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/ARTS WEEKLY/ FILM-INDIA: A Reel Tribute To a Real Life Hero
By Sujoy Dhar
KOLKATA, India, Apr 30 (IPS) - He was one Indian independence leader whose life was the stuff crazy adventure stories
are made of. In fact only art can imitate the life of a national hero like Netaji Subhas
Chandra Bose.
As India, especially the Bengali community to which he belongs to, still debates his
disappearance (or death) since a plane crash in 1945 in Taipei, an important filmmaker in
Bollywood is finally ready with his cinematic tribute to this patriot who was Mahatma
Gandhi's anti-thesis in the fight against British rule.
Capturing on celluloid the life of a larger-than-life personality like Bose was a daunting
task and not without its share of political controversies. But eminent filmmaker Shyam
Benegal says he is creatively satisfied. And his cast and crew say they are changed people
after the experience.
While the movie makers have tired to steer clear of a controversy surrounding his death or
disappearance or his alleged alliance with Nazi Germany in national interest, a commission
appointed by the Indian government is probing what happened to Bose after the 1945
Taipei plane crash.
When the Hindi film titled 'Bose - The Forgotten Hero' is released early May worldwide, it
would be culmination of a more than a three-year effort to trace the life of Bose or Netaji,
as he was popularly called.
''It has been a long haul making the film for three years. I would not take up another
similar subject,'' says Benegal who earlier made a movie on Mahatma Gandhi ('The Making
of the Mahatma') and a documentary on India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru
('Discovery of India').
But Benegal admits, though, the work has been satisfying.
''The canvas of the film is huge since the person on whom I am making the film himself is
someone larger than life. It is such a marvellous story to tell,'' he adds.
'Bose - The Forgotten Hero' is based on the extraordinary journey of a man who travelled
all the way to Afghanistan, Central Asia and Russia to Berlin in Germany and then
proceeded towards South-east Asia in a German U-boat crossing two seas and three
oceans to head an army (Indian National Army or INA) that actually fought the British
forces.
''We travelled the length and breadth of the places where Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose had
been to. It was a thrilling experiece making this film. It is one man's extraordinary
journey,'' reveals Benegal.
''He was a man who was all alone when he started and then the entire nation was behind
him. If viewers can identify with the achievements of Netaji it would be a reward enough.''
In South-east Asia, Bose took charge of the INA that comprised Indian prisoners-of-war
in World War II and expatriates living in East Asia. It was a historical coincidence that a
large number of British Indian POWs, captured during Rommel's blitzkrieg in North Africa,
lay in German hands - and they formed the nucleus of Bose's INA.
The INA was even successful in planting the national flag on Indian territory under the
British but eventually Japan's surrender signalled the end of Bose's campaign.
''I know in Bengal he is not a forgotten hero. But in the rest of India he is indeed a
forgotten hero and people should know who he was and what he really achieved. So the
film has been titled 'Bose - The Forgotten Hero' though 'Bose - The Last Hero' was a
working title for the film,'' says Benegal.
According to Benegal, research for the movie took more than a year. Then time was spent
working on costume details, sets and other intricate aspects of the film.
''The post-production work and special effects were also no less challenging. We could not
find a single aircraft used during the Second World War for shooting. So we had to
generate them on computer,'' points out the filmmaker, who auditioned 49 actors before
zeroing in on popular film and television actor Sachin Khedekar.
There are also many German and British actors in the film while Rajeshwari Sachdev
portrays Laxmi Sehgal, a lieutenant in the INA's women wing.
''While shooting this movie, I studied and lived with the character for two years. Netaji has
changed me as a person,'' says Khedekar. ''I heard his speeches, watched his footage and
read extensively to prepare myself.''
For actor Rajeshwari, too, it was an enriching experience.
''I read a lot, read the autobiography of Laxmi Sehgal and met her personally, too, to
imbibe the character,'' she says.
''When I first started researching on Netaji, I thought I knew a lot about him. But as I
delved deeper I realised that I knew very little about him. It was an eye-opening
experience researching for the film,'' says Atul Tiwari who wrote the script and dialogue of
the film, along with Shama Zaidi.
According to Krishna Bose, the widow of Netaji's nephew Sisir Bose - a former Congress
member of parliament - the film portrays Subhas Bose very well.
''It is a moving film and it brings out the person that he was. When Shyam Benegal
approached us, we knew the subject would be in safe hands,'' recalls Krishna Bose.
Her husband Sisir Bose had actually been an accomplice in Netaji's great escape from
Kolkata on Jan. 17, 1941. In the pitch-black night, he had driven Netaji to Bihar state's
Gomoh in a German-model ''Wanderer'' from their Elgin Road house - which is now called
Netaji Bhavan. Both managed to evade the prying eyes of British police who had kept Netaji
under house arrest.
The Netaji Bhavan is also home to a museum dedicated to the freedom fighter.
While Bose is slowly being accepted as an Indian hero, it's only recently that India's
progressives have given him their due recognition. Indian communists who were critical of
his proximity with the Axis powers during World War II, have only now recanted.
But during the making of 'Bose - The Forgotten Hero', a communist party, Forward Bloc,
which was actually founded by Bose himself, threatened a lawsuit against Benegal over the
mention of the freedom fighter's Austrian wife Emily Shenkel.
Forward Bloc maintains that Bose never married any woman in Europe.
The making of 'Bose - The Forgotten Hero' comes at a price. At a budget of 220 million
rupees (5.03 million U.S. dollars), it is one of the costliest Indian movies ever made. (END/2005)
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