Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero
Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero | |
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Directed by | Shyam Benegal |
Written by |
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Produced by |
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Starring | |
Cinematography | Rajan Kothari |
Edited by | Aseem Sinha |
Music by | A. R. Rahman |
Distributed by | Sahara India Media Communication Ltd. |
Release dates |
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Running time | 208 minutes |
Country | India |
Languages | Hindi English |
Budget | US$920,000[1] |
Box office | US$288,000[2] |
Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero is a 2004
The
Plot
Set in
Bose journeys to
Supporters of the
In Germany, Bose is attached to the
Its members swore the following allegiance to Hitler and Bose: "I swear by God this holy oath that I will obey the leader of the German race and state,
In all, 3,000 Indian prisoners of war sign up for the Free India Legion. But instead of being delighted, Bose was worried. An admirer of Russia, he was devastated when Hitler's tanks rolled across the Soviet border. Matters were worsened by the fact that the now-retreating German army would be in no position to offer him help in driving the British from India. When he meets Hitler in May 1942, his suspicions were confirmed, and he comes to believe that the Nazi leader was more interested in using his men to win propaganda victories than military ones. So, in February 1943, Bose turned his back on his legionnaires and slipped secretly away aboard a submarine bound for Japan. This leaves the men he had recruited leaderless and demoralized in Germany.
Bose lives in Berlin from 1941 until 1943. During his earlier visit to Germany in 1934, he had met
.However, the Japanese Navy remains in essential control of the island's administration. On the Indian mainland, an Indian Tricolor, modeled after that of the Indian National Congress, was raised for the first time in the town in Moirang, in Manipur, in north-eastern India. The towns of Kohima and Imphal were placed under siege by divisions of the Japanese, Burmese National Army and the Gandhi and Nehru Brigades of INA during the attempted invasion of India, also known as Operation U-GO. However, Commonwealth forces held both positions and then counter-attack, in the process inflicting serious losses on the besieging forces, which were then forced to retreat back into Burma.
When the Japanese were defeated at the battles of Kohima and Imphal, the Provisional Government's aim of establishing a base in mainland India was lost forever. The INA was forced to pull back, along with the retreating Japanese army, and fought in key battles against the British Indian Army in its Burma campaign, notable in Meiktilla,
Independence in 1947.Cast
- Sachin Khedekar as Subhas Chandra Bose
- Sisir Bose
- Kulbhushan Kharbanda as Uttamchand Malhotra
- Abid Hasan
- Divya Dutta as Ila Bose
- Arif Zakaria as Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon
- Ila Arun as Ranu
- Pankaj Berry as Abad Khan
- Raja Habib ur Rahman Khan
- Nicolas Chagrin as General Auchinlek
- Rahul Singh as Mohammed Zaman Kiani (Chief of INA)
- Nandini 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 Governor of Bengal—Sir John Arthur Herbert
- Kunal Mitra as Ashok Bose
- Samiran Mukherjee as Subhas Chandra Bose's Cousin
- Rohan Nicol as CID Officer
- Lal Babu Pandit as Checkpost Policeman
- Zakir Hussain as Shaukat Malik
- Mukul Nag
- Anna Prüstel as Emilie Schenkl
- Florian Panzner as Alexander Werth
- Surendra Rajan as Mahatma Gandhi
- Charu Rohatgi as Bivabati Devi
- Prabhabati Bose
- Ashiesh Roy as Spy Police 2
- Sonu Sood as Lt. Col. Shah Nawaz Khan
- Vikrant Chaturvedi as Col. Prem Kumar Sahgal
- Rajeshwari Sachdev as Capt. Lakshmi Sehgal
- Udo Schenk as Adolf Hitler
- Bernd-Uwe Reppenhagen as Joachim von Ribbentrop
- Gen Seto as Ambassador Oshima
- Rakesh Shrivastav as Spy Police 1
- Arindam Sil as Jail Warden
- Sandeep Srivastava as Nambiar
- Lalit Tiwari as Checkpost Policeman
- Christian Willis as Jail Superintendent
- Dr.B.D. Mukherjee as Janakinath Bose
- Rajpal Yadav as Bhagat Ram Talwar
- Tojo
- Manish Wadhwa as Captain Inayat Gyani
- Anup Shukla as Major Raturi
Reception
Bose: The Forgotten Hero, which offered a controversial view of the life of Bose, sparked protest in India. Director Benegal was forced to cancel its premiere in Calcutta. The film was fiercely opposed by the
BBC gave 3 stars out of 5 for Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero. Critic Jaspreet Pandohar called it "an informative and fascinating lesson worth sitting through" and "an absorbing drama." "Benegal is best known for his intimate portraits of Indian women, so it comes as some surprise that his latest film is a biopic of one of India's most famous male icons, Subhas Chandra Bose. Benegal ensures Bose's amazing but complex life story is peppered with just the right amount of detail so as to be easily understood. But what stops this film from becoming a [box-office] hit is its marathon length. At nearly three and a half hours, Sachin Khedekar's gallant performance isn't enough to make this a rousing affair," Pandohar wrote in his analysis.[4]
Sachin Khedekar's portrayal of Bose was praised by critics including Ziya us-Salam of The Hindu newspaper. "Khedekar may not win too many international awards for portraying Bose but accolades in India should come in thick and fast," she wrote in her review. "Benegal may not have put together an epic to challenge the lasting greatness of "Gandhi," Richard Attenborough's tribute to our father of the nation. But nor has he had the advantage of such resources. Where Benegal deserves credit is not in the canvas of his work but the intellectual honesty he has brought to the film. He refrains from either diluting or distorting history to serve his ends." Salam also noted the limitations of a director working under a relatively small budget for a historical film.[3]
Music
Bose: The Forgotten Hero: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack | ||||
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A.M. Studios | ||||
Genre | Soundtrack | |||
Length | 1:03:23 | |||
Label | Times Music | |||
Producer | A. R. Rahman | |||
A. R. Rahman chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Planet Bollywood | link |
The highly acclaimed music score that accompanies the film was composed by A. R. Rahman. The soundtrack features 20 pieces composed by Rahman, including 12 instrumentals and orchestral themes, six songs with lyrics by Javed Akhtar and a full orchestral version of Indian National Anthem. Most of the score was conducted by Matt Dunkley and performed by Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. Performers include the Western Choir Chennai (for "Aazadi") and the Mumbai Film Choir ("Hum Dilli Dilli Jayenge").
Reception
The soundtrack got high critical acclaim. A. R. Rahman received unanimous positive appreciations for his work. Popular music reviewing website Planet Bollywood gave 10 out of 10 stating "Bose – The Forgotten Hero is one of A.R. Rahman's and Javed Akhtar's finest creations. It's [sic] lack of mainstream compatibility and item numbers may hinder it from topping tabloid music charts, but that is barely a price to pay for having the distinction of creating musical storytelling of such high caliber. With three creative geniuses (A.R. Rahman, Javed Akhtar, and Shyam Benegal) at work, this quality soundtrack promises a very exciting movie to watch out for."[7] Another popular review website nowrunning gave a positive review stating "The entire album is created for a patriotic, period film and is totally different from the regular film albums that one hears nowadays. It is always a difficult task to write songs that can cause one's patriotism to surge and flow. To his credit, it must be said that Rahman has succeeded in this and is ably aided by some wonderful lyrics by Javed Saab. As usual, Rahman has used original compositions to enhance the value of original songs and words used by the Indian National Army, way back in the 40s. A good album, but one that may not get popular acclaim but will definitely appeal to a niche audience."[8]
The soundtrack is considered one of Rahman's finest works and was particularly praised for grand orchestration.
Track listing
Song | Duration | Artist(s) |
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"Aazadi" | 4:55 | A.R. Rahman , Western Choir Chorus
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" Kadam Kadam " |
2:48 | Vijay Prakash |
"Ekla Cholo" | 6:05 | Nachiketa Chakraborty, Sonu Nigam |
"Hum Dilli Dilli Jayenge" | 2:49 | Mumbai Film Choir |
"Desh Ki Mitti" | 5:34 | Anuradha Sriram, Sonu Nigam |
"Zikr" | 4:44 | A R Rahman, Rafee, Raqeeb Alam, Shaukat Ali
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"Ghoomparani" | 4:25 | Sapna Mukherjee, Satyanarayan Mishra |
"Durga Pooja – Rhythm" | 3:22 | Instrumental |
"Netaji – Theme 1" | 1:22 | Instrumental |
"Afghanistan – Theme 1" | 4:14 | Instrumental |
"Hitler Theme" | 2:10 | Instrumental |
"Emilie Theme 1" | 1:57 | Instrumental |
"Afghanistan – Theme 2" | 1:19 | Instrumental |
"War Themes" | 4:33 | Instrumental |
"Emilie Theme 2" | 2:32 | Instrumental |
"Kadam Kadam Barhayae Ja – Orchestral version" | 0:52 | Instrumental |
"Desh Ki Mitti – Orchestral version" | 2:48 | Instrumental |
"U Boat Theme (Underwater battle)" | 2:11 | Instrumental |
"Netaji – Theme 2" | 4:44 | Instrumental |
"Jana Gana Mana (Full Orchestral Version)" | 1:15 | Instrumental |
Awards
- Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration
- National Film Award for Best Art Direction: Samir Chanda
See also
- Indian National Army
- Azad Hind
- List of Asian historical drama films
- List of artistic depictions of Mahatma Gandhi
References
- ^ "BOSE - THE FORGOTTEN HERO". Box Office India. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
- ^ "BOSE - THE FORGOTTEN HERO". Box Office India. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
- ^ a b "Entertainment Chennai / Film Review : Celluloid tribute to a national hero". The Hindu. 20 May 2005. Archived from the original on 23 May 2005.
- ^ a b "BBC - Movies - review - Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero". bbc.co.uk.
- ^ a b "Biopic of Indian revolutionary sparks protest". the Guardian. 9 May 2005.
- ^ "নেতাজী সুভাষচন্দ্র বসুর কী হয়েছিলো ?". West Bengal News.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Bollywood - Music Review - Bose - The Forgotten Hero". planetbollywood.com.
- ^ "Bose - The Forgotten Hero Music Review". nowrunning. 30 March 2005.
External links
- Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero at IMDb
- Bose: The Forgotten Hero at Allmovie