If you have heard of the movie Gumnaami you must have heard of the controversy around it.

Gumnaami literally means a state of having been forgotten, living in anonymity. Not having a name! Thats the part which pulls at your heartstrings. Imagine having to give up your name, because you loved your nation more and wanted it’s safety first. The price of freedom was different for different people. But for our brave freedom fighters, it was always about their life laid down, so that we could have a future in Independent India.

What is the movie Gumnaami about?

Gumnaami (2019) is a mystery film directed by Srijit Mukherji and produced by Shrikant Mohta, Mahendra Soni under the banner of Shree Venkatesh Films. Actor Prosenjit Chatterjee is seen in the role of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose & Gumnaami Baba.

The film is based on the Mukherjee Commission Hearings and does a good job of making historical research intriguing and thought-provoking. The film depicts the three theories trying to explain the death or disappearance of Subhas Chandra Bose. All this with a dollop of whodunnit element to it.

The questions the movie asks

Did Netaji die in that fateful plane crash? If he didn’t, then why didn’t he come back post-1947? Did he return to India and live as a monk in Uttar Pradesh? Did the Nehru Govt and Gandhiji know about him being alive?

Interesting theories and clues about this throughout the movie. Why didn’t they do nothing to get him back or did they? Why was the Nehru Government spying on the Bose family, as late as the 1960s, if Netaji had allegedly died in a plane crash on August 18th1945? Why has Netaji declared a war criminal by Allies and what did the Nehru Government do about it?

Was Gumnami Baba Netaji? Was he a close associate? Was it all just a coincidence? Did Gumnami baba even exist? What about the opinion of Handwriting experts and DNA analysis reports? Why are there more questions than answers?

Srijit Mukherji’s Gumnaami storyboard: mild spoiler alert!

The story is narrated in two parallel timelines. Prosenjit does a good job but Anirban Bhattacharya, as Chandrachur Dhar takes the cake when it comes to doing a splendid job. Tanusree Chakraborty as Chandrachur’s much aggrieved yet loving wife was a balancing act. The details of the research behind this movie will make you wonder. The songs will make your spine tingle.they are also tear-jerker and will make your throat close up.

Only one scene I felt could be edited. Spoiler alert its a hallucinatory scene with the narrator and chief protagonist in his briefs!

Who is Gumnaami for?

If you are an Indian.If you are a Bengali.If you have been intrigued by the Netaji mystery.If you wondered why Jawaharlal Nehru became the first Prime minister and not Netaji.

Why did Netaji create the Azad Hind army? Wasn’t nonviolence enough? If you think there’s a conspiracy theory behind Netaji never coming back. If you think he didn’t die in a plane crash. If you are interested in Indian History and want to know the truth and not someone’s whitewashed versions of what really happened.

Conclusion

It’s a must-watch. If not for anything else but for the brilliant storytelling and cinematography, around a topic, which is easily  India’s worst kept secret now.

If this movie has asked the right questions, then the answers are definitely blowing in the wind. I watched the Bengali version and awaiting the Hindi release. What can I say? A movie that is like Inception, in its ability to make you feel involved, confused and seeking answers. But having an ESP like feeling at the same time. I did tell you its a fan review.

Seriously, go watch it and come back and tell me what you think in the comments.

To be released in Hindi on the 18th of October.

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