Srijit’s ‘Gumnami Baba’: Here’s all you need to know about the mysterious man linked to Subhas Chandra Bose

Srijit Mukherji’s next ‘Ek Je Chhilo Raja’ has already grabbed a lot of attention with its intriguing teaser. Meanwhile, Srijit has also wrapped up shooting for his Christmas release ‘Shah Jahan Regency’. In no mood for a break, recently the renowned director announced another project. The upcoming film, tentatively titled ‘Gumnami Baba’, will be based on a mysterious sadhu many believed to be the legendary Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. Prosenjit Chatterjee is all set to play the titular role. If all goes according to plan, ‘Gumnami Baba’ will release during Durga Puja next year.

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.

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’.

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.

In 2010, Lt Manwati Arya wrote a book titled ‘Judgment: No Air crash, 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 November 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.”