/ARTS WEEKLY/INDIA: On Film, The Life and Times of a Nationalist Hero

By Sujoy Dhar Reprint | | Print |

Sujoy Dhar

KOLKATA, India, Apr 1 2003 (IPS) - A film that seeks to portray the turbulent final years of one of India’s greatest heroes of its freedom struggle is finally under way, but not without controversy.

Subhas Chandra Bose, popularly known as ‘netaji’ (revered leader), was a nationalist who created and led the Indian National Army against the British Raj and who formed a provisional Indian government during World War II.

Now, noted Indian filmmaker Shyam Benegal has begun shooting ‘Netaji-The Last Hero’ in Kolkata, capital of the Indian state West Bengal, where Bose attended college and was first exposed to the nationalist movement.

Benegal, an award-winning filmmaker, has made films on Jawaharlal Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi (which were ‘Bharat Ek Khoj’, which means ‘A Discovery of India’, and ‘Making of the Mahatma’, respectively), and with his latest celluloid venture has spoken of being delighted about at last being able to cinematically tackle a character he has long wanted to.

The film focuses on the last five years of Bose’s life, and begins with his arrest by the British and his escape in early 1941, his flight to Kabul, the journey to Russia, covers the formation of the Indian National Army and leads to the plane crash in Taiwan (then known as Formosa) in which Bose died, which continues to be disputed by a section of his followers.

That is not the only controversy – although Benegal said that he is "least bothered about the mystery of Netaji’s death or disappearance".

His cameras began rolling despite a murmur of protest from a West Bengal political party called the Forward Bloc, which said that mention in the film of Netaji having had an Austrian wife – Emilie Schenkl – should have been avoided as there was no historical proof that he had married. The Forward Bloc, interestingly, is the party that Bose founded to work against the British Raj.

"Netaji was an extraordinary individual with a remarkable vision of independent India," said Benegal, who has emphasised that he is steering clear of controversy and instead focusing on the life of Bose from 1941 to 1945. "He has never been fully credited with the contribution he made towards achieving India’s independence."

"The vitality and energy he brought to bear in creating the Indian National Army, which fought courageously against all odds, persuaded the colonial authority to recognise that India could no longer be kept under imperial domination."

Benegal calls the film his "patriotic mission". The filmmaker said that his "endeavour is to portray the spirit and values" that Bose stood for. "It’s also a great adventure story from the time he escaped from Kolkata to how he built an army of 80,000 fighting men within a short period." The film, said Benegal, will provide glimpses of Bose’s life in flashbacks, and he added, "I don’t think leaving out the controversy over his death affects the film."

The Forward Bloc however, has made its position clear. "We do not believe Netaji died in the plane crash of 1945 or that he got married," said party leader Ashok Ghosh. In 1997, Ghosh added, a committee had decided that "any film endorsed by the federal government should not refer to these issues; so we have requested Benegal not to include these issues".

However, members of Bose’s extended family are not apparently troubled by Benegal’s interpretation of Bose’s life and times. "What’s wrong if the film depicts Netaji as married?" asked Krishna Bose, daughter-in-law of Netaji’s brother Sarat Bose and a member of Parliament. "I don’t think the family should have anything to say if the filmmaker sticks to facts."

The facts about Netaji are what have recently spurred the West Bengal government, which is ruled by the Left Front – left parties and the Communist Party of India-Marxist – and has been so for 25 years, to recant its position on Bose.

"I am apologising for our mistake in assessing the role of Netaji in the Indian freedom struggle," said Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, the state’s chief minister, recently. "We had highlighted only his entente with the Axis powers and undermined his patriotism and role in the country’s freedom struggle."

When Bose returned to politics after a spell in a prison in Mandalay, Burma, he quickly made his mark. In 1928 he became a general secretary of the Indian National Congress and a widely popular leader of the younger leftists, and then pressed Mahatma Gandhi to move more quickly and forcefully for complete independence.

Bose spent much of the period between 1933 and 1937 in Europe, recuperating. While in Europe he wrote ‘The Indian Struggle’, an account of Indian politics from 1920 to 1934, and ‘An Indian Pilgrim’, a brief, insightful autobiography. In 1938 Bose became president of the Indian National Congress and the next year, he successfully ran for the same office again.

Benegal used the locale which witnessed many meetings organised by Netaji, as leader of the Indian National Army, to begin his celluloid campaign. This was Netaji Bhavan in Kolkata, the hero’s home in the city, and where, Benegal explained, "Netaji discussed many nationalistic issues."

The old silver-coloured Volkswagen in which Netaji escaped from his confinement by the British still stands in the compound. Benegal would have loved to have used it in his film. "I can’t use this vehicle because it doesn’t run any more," he said. But the filmmaker found a another vehicle which looks just like the original – and runs too.

After shooting in Kolkata, the film crew will move on to Burma, Malaysia, Germany, Uzbekistan and Japan, before wrapping up their agenda by July 2003. With a current budget of around 2.1 million U.S. dollars, Benegal’s plan is for the schedule to give him time enough to release ‘Netaji-The Last Hero’ to coincide with Bose’s birth anniversary in January 2004.