Controversy uncalled for on Bose

Sanket Upadhyay

Script writer of the film on freedom fighter Subhash Chandra Bose “Bose: The Forgotten Hero,” Atul Tiwari said in Jaipur that the entire controversy on the movie was “uncalled for.” In rather explicit remarks, he compared the allegations and irritations from the movie to “mad men bickering on the streets.” The world premiere of the film was staged in a city cinema hall on Tuesday.

Activists in West Bengal led by the communist All-India Forward Bloc objected to the depiction of the leader's death, marital status and the title of the movie. Owing to these the controversy, Director Shyam Benegal has earlier cancelled the plans to hold his planned “largest movie premiere ever” for his film on Bose.

Bose: The Forgotten Hero portrays a leader seen as the antonym to the father of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi – for his agreement to use violent means for freedom. He allies with Germany, Italy and Japan, the axis powers to stomp down the British in the country through the formation of the Indian National Army.

“There is nothing in the movie which can be called controversial. The script has been prepared after thorough research from a two-dozen books. We have facts to support what we have shown,” Tiwari said.

He added that the “somebody” raising an issue over the film “should have facts to support their point.” “It is like a mad man walking on the street wearing tattered clothes calling himself a traffic policeman,” Tiwari said. He called the controversy as nothing but “notion” adding that somebody had “notions about the truth.”

The founding member of the Indian National Army, Bose, is believed to have fought British rule of India during World War II. The controversial subject is that many Indians dispute he died in a plane crash in Taiwan in August 1945.

Bose, according to protestors, was not married. He was shown in the movie to be in love and married with full Hindu rituals with an Austrian woman, Emilie Shekl, who lived in Germany. The two have also been shown to have a daughter, Anita Piaff.

“Everything is researched and it is in the books,” Tiwari presses. There were apprehensions to the name of the movie “Bose: The Forgotten Hero”. In West Bengal, his home state, Bose is hailed as an unmarried freedom fighter who was willing to challenge British colonialism through force.
Film hero, who has played Bose, Sachin Khedekar, says that the controversy is “more or less resolved.” “It is sad to learn that not many people know about Bose and his struggle,” Khedekar said. Director Shyam Benegal in an interview given to a national newspaper earlier said that the title was given as the leader is little known outside the state of West Bengal.
While the release of the movie is still awaited, the world premiere here in Jaipur was well received. With a budget of Rs 220-million, the movie is Indian film industry’s first serious attempt to depict Bose and his struggle. “The film is a three year effort involving a lot of research and shooting in locales in Berlin, Ladakh, Uzbekistan and Myanmar,” Khedekar said.

--End