The Forgotten Army - Azaadi ke liye

Why worked:

• the production team; the series is beautifully shot, edited, sound and video mixing is fine. What stays out is the action team, the stunts, visual effects and overall war sequences. It's commendable and astonishing. The team were able to build a huge set design because of the adequate budget making the viewer experience more realistic.The series is based on a real story which makes it an especial series. Overall, it is an enjoyable watch especially the action scenes.

What did not work:

• love story; the love story somehow distracted the series instead of enhancing it. The movie which should have been focused on the agenda of the movie seem busy in trying to build a story out of the context, which would have been better if not highly valued in the narrative overall. Also, the love story failed to create the intimacy and relatability.
• glorified scenes: some scenes were overly dramatized and gloried for the sake of making it colorful. Many scenes with the themes of nationality and valor could have been cut down to get a crisp narrative.
• plot holes and flaws; what failed miserably is the screenplay of the series. Although they had a huge budget and great team, the screenplay somehow failed to connect with the viewers making it a mundane and cliche war movie with added flavor of romance and predictability. I think many would have not wanted the over glamorous present story, the chase scenes or the love story or the ending of the main character. I would say it's a weak writing and the narrative could have been made better with giving attention to the flow, the intend and the overall message of the movie, rather than gloried love story added on the real story. It's a missed opportunity, which could have been better.

Final verdict: not recommended if you have something better to do. Watch it for set design and action sequences, it's a treat.

A story long overdue.. Sacrifices forgotten due to political reasons.. Ones worth remembering.. The true reason why India got Independence (yes, Red Fort trials and the subsequent Naval Mutiny were the reason the British left and the British PM Clement Attlee himself accepted this).. But a mediocre execution on part of the director as usual.. This could have been a muti season series based on all the adventures and battles of the INA spread over 3 years! But a 5 episode series simply fails to capture the entirety of the glory and valour that was the INA.. And I get that a love story isn't unusual given that the soldiers were humans themselves.. But what's with the blue bird nonsense? Is this a fantasy Disney show? And the side story of 90's Burma is absolutely pointless and even demeaning to the main story.. Had high expectations from this but alas, Bollywood.. 2 extra stars only for the sense to do a series on the INA..

The content of the mini series could be more focused on fact rather than the dramatisation. With the factual history available in the public domain, the legacy of INA can be made into seasons together, let aside a 5 episode mini series. The storyline and cinematography could be better, even as compared to current Indian productions. Overall, 7 starts would do good. However, 10 stars is for the effort for bringing out such a sensitive and important part of the forgotten history.

Whenever the topic raises on Netaji, somehow our so-called intellectuals get cold feet. Regrettably, the current generation are fully unaware of what happened to the man who truly turned out to be the foremost catalyst to India's independence. Simply forget about what you are being taught at school, I remember a small paragraph dedicated to Netaji SCB & his INA. Books like 'India's Biggest Cover-up' by Anuj Dhar, 'Women at War - Subhas Chandra Bose & Rani of Jhansi Regiment' by Vera Hildebrand are just some of the examples on the epitome of sacrifice endured by these men & women during the Battle of Kohima & Imphal.

It has been 73 years & still our government did nothing, of-course nothing to expect when treachery is the bread & butter of the system & society. Something for which the Japanese loathes us because we truly don't understand the meaning of honor or sacrifice leaving aside the Indian Armed Forces.

As a start this is the first time where we get to see on the silver screen the exploits of INA at the far east & its ultimate fate. Back in 2005 it was Shyam Benegal's Bose which gave us a little glimpse of our nation's legend. Being a war movie aficionado, I should praise the effort put up by Kabir Khan, who has earnestly tried to put forth the story of the forgotten army. We should never forget the sacrifice made by Netaji & his INA, this the least that can be expected from we worthless souls.

I would highly recommend this mini-series to anyone who has an interest to know about the true story behind our nation's freedom. Anyone who believes that the so-called non-violence truly brought India her freedom, really needs to keep tap on the events which led to sensational trial of INA officers at Red Fort back in February 1946, which raved the country like wild fire. When Subhas Bose took over the INA at Singapore, there was a sizeable amount of 60,000 enlisted men & women out of which 26,000 died during the end of Second World War. It was during the eve of INA trial when around 20,000 Royal Indian Navy mutinied against the Union Jack which lead to a panic across the Raj, which forced them to take a hasty decision for approving the transfer of power as a face saving grace event, so much for so-called ahimsa (non-violence) doctrine.

Note: I'm adding some additional foot-notes after seeing so many negative reviews; Kabir Khan has clearly mentioned in one of his interview, the story is seen from the perspective of one army officer who actively took part in the Battle of Mount Popa & Irrawaddy River operations, as for the love story it was inspired from the personal story of Captain Lakshmi Sahgal & Col. Prem Kumar Sahgal with some alteration, which is quite logical; the intent of the show was to bring forth the untold story of the decisive battle which forged our nation's future. Trust me, I've seen more war movies than many of you can ever fathom, my personal favorites are Saving Private Ryan, Thin Red Line, Come & See, Stalingrad - German Edition, Band of Brothers, The Pacific, Hacksaw Ridge etc. I applaud the effort put up by Kabir Khan; its coming from some one who rarely sees Hindi movies in general.

I only judge an art by seeing what was the aim of its makers and did the art achieved that goal. And if the goal was to aware the audience about the INA's effort from singapore. That, indeed is achieved, at least to me. And so, in my opinion, this series is a super success. It not only achieves it's patriotic mission with it's superb title song and steller performances (which made me cry each and every time), but also gives me a very good time. There's honesty in it's humour, necessary passion in patriotism, and purity in love and honour. Nothing felt too fictitious, at the same time, kept everything a little dramatic, to not make it boring. Though some moments may be debatable as to being authentic or not, but the discussion is of no importance to either me or any fine layman. Those discussions are only important to cinephiles, which is a fun thing nonetheless. I have had a very good time watching the whole season, one episode a day. Binging wasn't an option, and thankfully not, otherwise I wouldn't have enough tears for the whole series in one sitting. This series is definitely worth a try to every prime user. It's a good detour from our daily soaps. But remember, do not binge. It's not good for your health. (Are personal disclaimers like this, a no no in a review?) Happy watching!