Under the weekly film screenings, a film — Bose: The Forgotten Hero — was screened here on Sunday at Abhirang Auditorium, Bharat Bhavan.
Directed by Shyam Benegal and starring with Sachin Khedekar, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Rajit Kapur and Arif Zakaria, the film was based on the life of Netaji; Subhash Chandra Bose.
Born in a prominent Bengali family, Subhas had dedicated much of his younger years by actively involving in ridding the British from India. For this purpose he joined hands with stalwarts such as Jawaharlal Nehru and Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, but expressed his frustration, especially with Gandhi’s slow and painstaking way of trying to win over the enemy with love.
It is for this reason he had decided to separate from the Congress party. The British became weary of him, placed him under arrest, but when he started a hunger strike unto death, they let him go, but kept him under surveillance.
Subhas eluded the police, under the guise of Pathan Mohammad Ziauddin, crossed the Indian border in Afghanistan so that he could enter Russia and form an Indian Army to oust the British.
His efforts failed, and ended up as Italian Orlando Mashtar, with an office in Germany. He secretly married his German Secretary, Emily Sanken, and did earn the ire of the Germans, who wanted to keep their race pure (Caucasian). His efforts to take his army to India through Russia and Afghanistan were in vain as Adolf Hitler declared war on Russia.
leaving his German-based army, Subhas journeyed to Singapore via a submarine, from there he entered into an agreement with the Japanese. And it was with the help of the Japanese that he marched an army of approximately 8,000 troops, both men and women, against the might of the British.
It was here that he was informed that he had become the father of Anita. Then, fate again played a cruel hand, when America entered the war, atom-bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki, forcing Japan to surrender unconditionally.
At this point, Subhas had two alternatives: to carry on fighting against the British and their new allies, Australia and America, or just disband his army.
The audience enjoyed the show whole heartedly.