A quick look at the mysterious ‘Gumnami Baba’ as Srijit’s ‘Gumnaami’ hits the floor

Srijit Mukherji’s next ‘Gumnaami’ which hit the floors on May 28 is no doubt one of the most anticipated films in recent times. The thriller is based on a mysterious sadhu many believed to be Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. We all know Prosenjit Chatterjee will be playing the titular role of the mysterious man.

Here we take a look at 5 of the most interesting facts related to ‘Gumnami Baba’ which leads to an uncanny resemblance to the legendary freedom fighter Subhas Chandra Bose.

After Gumnami Baba breathed his last, hundreds of mysterious objects including his correspondence and notes were found in his room. Many of these objects reportedly had connections with Subhas Chandra Bose and those who were close to Bose in the pre-Independence era. During that time several Bhagwanji followers had to face the questions from local media and they allegedly gave out that Bhagwanji was none other than Netaji to their belief. They even said that they had to remain tight-lipped as advised by Bhagwanji in "national interest".

2006 marked a year of a shocking revelation. A 102-year-old man Nizamuddin claimed that he was once Netaji's driver-cum-bodyguard and he shocked the entire nation by claiming Netaji survived the Taipei air crash in 1945 and died a natural death in decades later in Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh. He also said he met Swami, the Madrasi right-hand man of Netaji in 1971 in Varanasi and Swami told him Subhas Chandra Bose was alive and staying in oblivion in Faizabad under the disguise of Gumnami Baba. Nizamuddin also allegedly claimed he met Netaji and his brother Sharat Chandra Bose in 1946 in Thailand, only a year after the alleged death in air-crash.

Gumnami Baba, who had a mysterious resemblance with Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, reportedly came to Uttar Pradesh via Nepal as an ascetic (sadhu) and from then on lived in Ram Bhavan of Faizabad from 1983. He died on September 16, 1985 in Faizabad and was cremated two days later. The unseen holy man grabbed headlines only after his demise. He was named Gumnami Baba by the media although his followers never used this name. They rather used to call him the honorific ‘Bhagwanji’.

In 2010, Lt Manwati Arya wrote a book titled ‘Judgment: No Aircrash, No Death’ in which it was claimed Bose used to live as ‘Pardewala Baba’ in a village near Naimisharanya in Uttar Pradesh before he became Gumnami Baba in Faizabad. Photographs of Netaji's parents were reportedly found in his rooms. It was also alleged that Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi reportedly knew all about this and the District Administration in Faizabad was instructed to ensure the Baba's privacy.

The rumours first started on October 28, 1985 after the death of Gumnami Baba when a Hindi daily from Uttar Pradesh, ‘Naye Log’, published came up with a shocking story which claimed the sadhu was none other than Netaji in disguise. Although on Nevember 2, 1985, another report in ‘Janmorcha’ countered Gumnami Baba’s alleged identity. The Hindi paper in Faizabad reportedly received an anonymous letter that claimed “the Baba is wrongly projected as Netaji. He was KD Upadhyay, the man who disappeared after murdering Pandit Brahmadev at Gayatri Bhawan.”