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Reviving Bose

Freedom fighter Subhash Chandra Bose has been one of the most interesting and mysterious figures in the history of Indian…

Reviving Bose

(Photo: Facebook)

Freedom fighter Subhash Chandra Bose has been one of the most interesting and mysterious figures in the history of Indian Independence. Filled with controversies, conspiracy theories, Bose’s life is the stuff of legends, especially his last few years that were cut to heroic proportions.

“Netaji is India’s own superhero, he is someone that we need today” said producer Ekta Kapoor. What makes his life such interesting is the sheer number of narratives involved that made him as a freedom fighter with superhuman spy-like qualities.

In the world of cinema and glamour, Bose has always commanded huge respect as the man himself stands out in the pantheon of the great leaders our country has ever seen. ALT Balaji’s latest exclusive Bose: Dead or Alive — a documentary drama that speculates the events that could have had happened if Bose wouldn’t have died in a plane crash in 1945. It’s funny when you think about it, for a person who has had such a happening life. It is ironical that it is the air of mystery around his death that interests the world most.

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As Kapoor, joint managing director of Balaji Films puts it “what we have tried to show is that, if Bose would have been alive after 1945, this is how it probably would have happened.” The series delves into the last few years of Bose’s life and then speculates the rest. The movie has Rajkumar Rao, Patralekhaa, Naveen Kasturi and Sanjay Gurbaxani in leading roles.

To play the character of a man who was a master of disguise, who fooled the British at his will; it is almost perfect that Rao was cast to portray Bose. Rao has gone through tremendous physical transformations in the past several years in movies like Raabta, Trapped and Newton. The actor gained 14 kilos for the series and had to shave his head to get into the look to play Bose. Kapoor admitted that she was thankful towards the dedication that Rao put into his acting.

“I like to take roles that will challenge me as an actor” said Rao. He went on to mention that he was pleasantly surprised when he got the call to play Bose, but since he was already a fan he decided to take it up.

Creative producer of the series Hansal Mehta told that a humongous amount of research has gone into making this series as accurate as possible. Most of the research has been done through public domain and the lores that surround different stages of Bose’s life.

The show has almost taken two years to be completed as is ALT Balaji’s most anticipated and ambitious project of all time and will be streamed across the ALT Balaji website, app and JIOCinema.

Shot across Kolkata, Mumbai, Leh, Poland and Thailand the series and its trailers show tightly packed drama and some semblance to reality. Rao has spent a lot of time in Netaji Bhavan to make the character his own. “We made the show with lot of hard work and love. I hope that you will see that sincerity in the series,” said Rao.

It is not the first time that the subject of Netaji has been dealt with and it is not the first time that questions have been posed. The recent declassification of confidential files indicates that the country is still looking for a closure with the man it loved and the leader it respected.

The legend of Netaji Subhash Bose has lived long amongst his supporters and his enemies. Some have claimed to have seen him and some have provided evidence for the same. It is about time that legends come true in the silver screen, but this time not in a movie theatre but over online streaming.

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