A new portrait of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in Parliament Rashtrapati Bhawan unveiled to commemorate Netaji’s 125th birth anniversary on January 23, whipped up a storm of controversy when many netizens observed that the portrait resembled Bengali actor Prosenjit Chatterjee who played Netaji in the Bengali film Gumnaami directed by Srijit Mukherjee.
However it was later revealed that the portrait was actually that of Netaji and not Prosenjit playing Netaji.
When I asked Prosenjit about the mistakem identity he said he was flattered to be mistaken for Netaji. “I would like to congratulate painter Paresh Maity for the wonderful piece of art in remembrance of our national hero Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. As an actor, I’m elated that people thought the painting resembles my character in Gumnami.”
Gumnami released in 2019,was based on the controversial Mukherjee Commission Hearings . It fused a fictional Orson Welles-inspired hero who like Citizen Kane sets out to uncover the truth about the death of Netaji, with a fund of historical facts that permeate imminently into the narrative.It was a fascinating character study of an obstinate leader determined to free India from foreign rule, though the film is not fully freed of foreign influences (Citizen Kane, Roshomon). Bose is played by the redoubtable Prosenjit Chatterjee as a cheerless(didn’t the Netaji ever smile?) stoic mumbling self righteous statesman whom both Gandhi and Nehru(played respectively and respectfully by Surendra Rajan and Sanjay Gurbaxani) conspired to sideline from the top post.
Most of the narrative tries to piece together the provocative hearsay regarding Netaji’s death by weaving in and out of lives that are documented by history and fomented by the imagination. The film could have avoided being so literal in its quest for the truth. However, there is much to be applauded in Gumnaami. Director Srijit Mukherjee feeds on the nation’s relentless curiosity about Netaji’s death by drawing hypothetical situations in a seamless flow of known and unknown facts.For the sequences in the 1940s Mukherjee makes telling use of black-and-white images with some interesting ‘period’ touches that don’t go overboard.
Since the film follows the proceedings of the Mukherjee Commission it tends to get wordy. But when we come away from Gumnaami we do get a sense of a mysterious nationalist who has been wronged by history. And that’s more of a takeaway than most bio-pics these days.