‘Gumnaami’ to 'Bose The Forgotten Hero': How the celluloid has kept Subhas Chandra Bose alive

Any filmmaker who plans to make a nationalistic film based on the Indian independence movement is baffled when it comes to the topic Subhas Chandra Bose. Bose still remains a political maverick whose ideology and methods chose an unconventional and different path than the mainstream freedom struggle.

From Srijit Mukherji’s ‘Gumnaami’ to ‘Bose: The Forgotten Hero’, the extraordinary life of the firebrand leader has been given cinematic justice by only a handful of directors. On the occasion of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s 123rd birth anniversary today, let’s take a quick look on how the celluloid has attempted to keep Bose and his Indian National Army (INA) alive in our memory over the years:

The story is based on the true incident at INA. Shekhar (Ashok Kumar) falls in love with Lilly D'Souza (Nalini Jayawant). She cheats him and they break up. Freedom struggle is going on and so wars keep happening. She and her sister apologise for spying on Indian army and get death penalty. Subash Chandra Bose saves them and asks them to spy on British army. On the other hand, Ashok Kumar goes for a big war. Do they meet or they die is the biggest question?. Their love is true and does love win in the end?

This Bengali classic narrates the life of young Subhash Bose, his childhood, college days, passing ICS, early political campaigns and police arrest. The film is touted to be one of the most honest works based on the life of Bose. It’s about the intellectual transformation of Bose from a curious boy to a radical leader. Subhas Chandra Bose’s different phases were played by Ashish Ghosh (childhood), Amar Dutta (young adult) and Samar Chatterjee (adult).

Shyam Benegal’s film deals with the entire scenario of freedom struggle through Netaji`s perspective. The movie has also reflected upon a lot of instances from his life of which not many people are aware of. The film, which is about the last five years of the Indian leader Subhas Chandra's life, also includes his life's story in flashback sequences. Sachin Khedekar was seen as Netaji.

This star-packed Bengali movie directed by Mahesh Manjrekar focuses on social issues and one man’s fight against them all. Debabrata, a common man, adopts the ideologies of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose to instil unity among the Bengali community and fight the wrongdoers. The film depicts Bose coming to the rescue of Debabrata (Mithun Chakraborty).

Tigmanshu Dhulia directed Raag Desh is a periodic drama based on the Indian National Army set up by Netaji and the war to liberate India that was fought on the shores of the Irrawaddy in Burma. The British called the soldiers of the INA renegades and Japanese stooges and a trial was held at the Red Fort in Delhi that was called the Red Fort trials of 1945. Raag Desh brings to life that epic trial that paved the way for India's Freedom and those meteoric times.

Gumnaami is a film based on the Mukherjee Commission Hearings which happened from 1999 to 2005 where the three theories about Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's death were discussed and debated. It is a dramatization of the hearings where an investigative journalist supporting the Gumnaami Baba theory locks horns with the official lawyer who supports the plane crash theory. In their clash, the Death in Russia theory also comes up.

The man! The legend! The mystery! He fascinated us in life, and long after his "death". This is the story of India's biggest cover-up: Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose and the mystery of his alleged death. Conspiracy theorists who believe that Subhash Chandra Bose did not die in a plane crash in Taiwan on August 18, 1945, will find plenty of fuel for their fantasies in this mini-series. Bose, played by Rajkummar Rao with added kilos and a semi-tonsured pate, comes off as a Harry Houdini-like figure who appears and disappears at will.