Srijit Mukherjee On Subhas Chandra Bose’s family Objecting To His Film

Bengal’s most  prolific and popular  director Srijit Mukherjee has  Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s family deepelyincensed.  They have collectively put out a statement that Mukherjee is trying to  malign Netaji’s  name in his  new Hindi-Bengali bio-pic Gumnaami by  propagating the theory that he masqueraded  as  an anonymous Baba in his last days.

However  Mukherjee when contacted feels Netaji’s family doth protest too much, and too soon. “Have  they seen  Gumnaami? I’ve in  no way maligned  Netaji. You see, there are  three theories  put out about his last days and his death.One is the Russian theory. The other is  the plane-crash theory.And  the  third is  the ‘Baba Gumnaami’ theory. I  have  not gone by any of  the three theories.Instead I’ve taken an ambiguous stand. Let the audience  decide on the  mystery of his final days.”

 Srijit  is  eager to see the  audiences’ reaction. “It has been my long-cherished dream to make  a film on Netaji.I’ve tried to be as objective as humanly possible. Given  the budget constraints of  non-Bollywood cinema I think I’ve done what I could.”

How does Srijit compare  his Subhas Chandra Bose bio-pic with Shyam Benegal’s Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose  The Forgotten Hero released  in 2005?

Observes Srijit, “I though the war scenes  could’ve been done  better. But Sachin Khedekar as  Nataji was a revelation. He transformed himself physically and emotionally to become the  character. Let us see how the audience reacts to Prosenjeet (Chatterjee) as Netaji.”

Gumnaami is Srijit’s first bi-lingual  and therefore special. “It has been made simultaneously in Hindi and Bengali.And  it is being released  on October 2. Irony can  go no further.”