Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero

First, I'm not Indian but I learned a lot about india's struggle for independence from this movie. Previously, my only knowledge of india's struggle was that of the Gandhi-Nehru efforts. Second, this could have been a very powerful movie - I would say even more than one of the best Hollywood movies of all time, Casablanca. If there was some basic editing applied, we could have had a shorter duration movie without some of the irrelevant scenes that do not add much to the movie and also distract from the great story of this great man. An edited version of the existing movie would be great for people outside of India, most of whom has never heard of Subhas Chandra Bose.

Many things which could come to the light but it doesn't Metter when you have a cult.

Yes, the movie fails on a number of cases- especially character development of Bose himself. It seems to me the whole thing was written and directed in haste. Further, some of the scenes were absolutely unnecessary (what is the need for a showing a German U-Boat firing a torpedo at a ship in this movie). Some of the war scenes were also very badly done. One expected a lot more from a director of Benegal's reputation.

I thought the lead actor was very good but again fell short of expectations. But I would ask all Indians to watch the movie. BeThe movie wakes you up to the life and struggles of this hero. Before this I didn't know too much about the man.

The film by just concentrating on the reformation of Indian National Army and the later war of Indian National Army under the Leadership of Netaji against the British rule in India has done a splendid job of reliving the patriotic times of the Great and perhaps the bravest man in India's struggle for freedom.

Directors are usually reluctant to translate history on celluloid. They are instead inclined to offer new interpretations of history, shed light on little-known facts about their subjects, and even raise questions that were missed. On the contrary, the title of Shyam Benegal's film- Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose – The Forgotten Hero- itself tells a story! Nobody remembers what he did, except to say that he was a great big hero. Few people remember that he challenged Gandhi, or that he was married.

The film's narrative is brilliantly broken into three parts. These are headed under Itmad, Ittefaq and Qurbani after the motto of the Indian National Army. The film brilliantly captures the vast canvas of its history, geography and political ambiance just before India's independence from British rule. The film is the product of painstaking historical, documentary and other research that spanned 18 months. The research team explored all available material, interviewed the people alive such as Netaji's Japanese interpreter, then in his late eighties.

The film comepletely lacks loud and bombastic rhetoric, a common feature of most nationalist and biographical films made on national heroes. Its central focus is on the man behind the hero, the human being behind the mask of the national leader, a true lover of his country dedicated to get it liberated from foreign rule. The film is characterised as much by the patriotism and hero-worship that brought young men in hundreds to join their hero, as by its documentation of history. It is the film of a journey- ideological, political, historical and personal that uncovers almost by incidence than by connivance of history, a beautiful fictionalized documentation of one of the greatest national heroes Indian has ever produced.