Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero
Directed by	Shyam Benegal
Produced by	Raj Pius Barbara von Wrangell
Written by	Atul Tiwari Shama Zaidi
Starring	Sachin Khedekar Kulbhushan Kharbanda Rajit Kapur Divya Dutta Arif Zakaria
Music by	A. R. Rahman
Cinematography	Santosh Sivan V. Manikandan
Editing by	Sreekar Prasad
Studio	Madras Talkies
Distributed by	Sahara India Media Communication Ltd.
Release date(s)	November 3, 2004 (London Film Festival) May 13, 2005
Running time	222 minutes
Country	India
Language	Hindi
Box office	21 crores

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero (also known as Bose: The Forgotten Hero) is a 2005 film directed by Shyam Benegal and starring Sachin Khedekar, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Rajit Kapur, Arif Zakaria, and Divya Dutta. The movie depicts the last five years of the life of the Indian independence leader "Netaji" Subhash Chandra Bose during World War II. It starts at the point when Bose resigns from his position as the president of the Indian National Congress (INC) moves to the meeting with Italians by crossing Afghanistan's rugged terrain and entering Europe, shows him romancing his Austrian secretary and his appointment with Adolf Hitler in Berlin, then his inspiring of the Indian POWs of the 'Punjab Regiment' (British Army) for fighting the British forces in India, to his patriotic speeches. Some U-Boat submarine scenes and finally the battle in Burma with Tojo's assistance during the Second World War and ends with his speech at Red Fort as prime minister.

The music is by A. R. Rahman. The music for the songs "Aazadi" and "Ekla Chalo" were particularly popular. A song "Zikr" is composed in the style of Islamic prayer chants of Sufi style.

Plot

Born in a prominent Bengali family, Subhas had dedicated much of his younger years by being actively involved in freedom movements in India, for ridding India of the British Imperialist rule. For this purpose he joined hands with stalwarts such as Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru and Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi; he expressed his frustration, especially with Gandhi's slow and painstaking way of trying to win over the enemy with love ('Ahimsa'). For this reason, he decided to leave the Congress Party.

The British became weary of him and placed him under arrest. 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 a Pathan with an alias, 'Mohammad Ziauddin'. He crossed the Indian border in Afghanistan so that he could enter Russia and form an Indian independence Army to oust the British. His efforts failed, and he ended up as an 'Italian diplomat', "Orlando Mazzotta", with an office in Germany. He managed to convince the Nazis, despite Hitler's views in Mein Kampf, that he preferred India to remain colonized under the British. Nevertheless he was permitted to recruit Indian-born British Army POWs, and this is how the movement began. He secretly married his Austrian secretary, Emilie Schenkl, and earned the ire of the Germans, who wanted to keep their race pure "Aryan" or Caucasian. His efforts to take his army to India through Russia and Afghanistan were in vain as Adolf Hitler declared war on Russia (Operation Barbarossa). Leaving his German-based Indische Legion, Subhas journeyed to Singapore on two submarines.

From there he entered into an agreement with the Japanese. It was with their help that he marched a coed army of approximately 300,000 troops against the might of the British. Here he was informed that he had become the father of Anita. The Indian National Army (INA) crossed the northeast border of India. Azad Hind troops captured Imphal and Kohima. Japanese support ended when the United States entered the war, atom-bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki, forcing Japan to surrender unconditionally. But Netaji continued the war with support in India. Finally, INA captured Delhi. The British surrendered and India became free. Netaji became first prime minister of India.

Cast

Sachin Khedekar as Subhash Chandra Bose Kulbhushan Kharbanda as Uttamchand Malhotra Rajit Kapur as Abid Hasan Divya Dutta as Ila Bose Arif Zakaria as Major Dhillon Ila Arun as Ranu Pankaj Berry as Aabid Khan Nicolas Chagrin as General Auchinlek Nalini Chatterjee as Meera Pradeep Kumar Das as Servant Chris England as CID Chief Arindham Ghosh as Subhas Chandra Bose's Cousin Ahmed Khan as Mian Akbar Shakeel Khan as Sarat Bose Howard Lee as Bengal Governor Kunal Mitra as Ashok Bose Samiran Mukherjee as Subhas Chandra Bose's Cousin Rohan Nicol as CID Officer

Lal Babu Pandit as Checkpost Policeman Anna Prüstel as Emilie Schenkl Florian Panzner as Alexander Werth Surendra Rajan as Mahatma Gandhi Charu Rohatgi as Bibavati Alaknanda Roy as Prabhavati Bose Ashiesh Roy as Spy Police 2 Rajeshwari Sachdev as Capt. Lakshmi Sehgal Udo Schenk as Adolf Hitler Jishu Sengupta as Sisir Bose Gen Seto as Ambassador Oshima Rakesh Shrivastav as Spy Police 1 Arindam Sil as Jail Warden Suneel Sinha Sandeep Srivastava as Nambiar Lalit Tiwari as Checkpost Policeman Christian Willis as Jail Superintendent Rajpal Yadav as Bhagat Ram Talwar

Music

Bose: The Forgotten Hero: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Soundtrack album by A. R. Rahman
Released	2004
Recorded	Panchathan Record Inn A.M. Studios
Genre	Soundtrack
Length	1:03:23
Label	Times Music
Producer	A. R. Rahman
Professional reviews
The reviews parameter has been deprecated. Please move reviews into the “Reception” section of the article. See Moving reviews into article space. Planet Bollywood link
A. R. Rahman chronology
Kisna: The Warrior Poet (2004) Bose: The Forgotten Hero (2005) Mangal Pandey - The Rising (2005)

The music score that accompanies the film was composed by A. R. Rahman. The soundtrack features 19 pieces composed by Rahman, including 13 instrumentals and orchestral themes, in addition to 6 further songs, with lyrics by Javed Akhtar. Performers include the Western Choir Chennai and the Mumbai Film Choir.

Track listing

1. "Aazadi" (4:55) – A.R. Rahman, Western Choir Chorus
2. "Kadam Kadam" (2:48) – Vijay Prakash
3. "Ekla Cholo" (6:05) – Nachiketa Chakraborty, Sonu Nigam
4. "Hum Dilli Dilli Jayenge" (2:49) – Mumbai Film Choir
5. "Desh Ki Mitti" (5:34) – Anuradha Sriram, Sonu Nigam
6. "Zikr" (4:44) – A R Rahman, Rafi, Rakeeb, Shaukat Ali
7. "Ghoomparani" (4:25) – Sapna Mukherjee, Satyanarayan Mishra
8. "Durga Pooja - Rhythm" (3:22) – Instrumental
9. "Netaji – Theme 1" (1:22) – Instrumental
10. "Afghanistan – Theme 1" (4:14) – Instrumental
11. "Hitler Theme" (2:10) – Instrumental
12. "Emilie Theme 1" (1:57) – Instrumental
13. "Afghanistan – Theme 2" (1:19) – Instrumental
14. "War Themes" (4:33) – Instrumental
15. "Emilie Theme 2" (2:32) – Instrumental
16. "Kadam Kadam Barhayae Ja – Orchestral version" (0:52) – Instrumental
17. "Desh Ki Mitti – Orchestral version" (2:48) – Instrumental
18. "U Boat Theme (Underwater battle)" (2:11) – Instrumental
19. "Netaji – Theme 2" (4:44) – Instrumental

Awards

• National Film Award : Nargis Dutt Award: Won
• National Film Award : Best Art Direction: Samir Chanda

See also

• Indian National Army
• Azad Hind
• A R Rahman
• Shyam Benegal

External links

• Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero at the Internet Movie Database
• Bose: The Forgotten Hero at Allmovie