Producer:Sahara One Motion Pictures
Director:Shyam Benegal
Cast:Sachin Khedekar, Rajit Kapur, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Alan Thomson, Nicholas Chagrin, Udo Schenk
Music:A.R.Rehman, Javed Akhtar

The master filmmaker Shyam Benegal enlivens the enigma of the patriotic freedom fighter Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose the  heroic leader of India’s freedom struggle on the celluloid with ‘Bose: The Forgotten Hero’. After an extensive research on the life of the Subhash Chandra Bose he began the film. If the research was tough, the casting of the actor for the role of larger-than-life freedom fighter was tougher. It was after auditions for 8 months and auditioning 49 actors he selected Sachin Khedkar. Others in the cast are Rajeshwari Sachdev and Rajit Kapoor. It was a daunting task for the cast and the crew to shoot the film for three years at length.

The film is built on a huge canvas. It’s a wonderful story of an amazing personality who traveled all the way to Afghanistan, Central Asia, Germany and Southeast Asia inbetween 1941 to 1945 in the backdrop of the Second World War and the exploits of the INA. Netaji started his revolt against the Britishers alone but later the entire nation was on his side. The true representation of the hero is presented in a dramatic manner, which includes the establishment of the Indian National Army, the Azad Hind Fauj, and the disappearance of Netaji in a supposed plane crash in Taiwan in 1945. The film captures all the places Netaji had traveled.

Sachin Khedekar is in the lead role of Netaji. Rajeshwari Sachdev plays Laxmi Sehgal of the women’s wing of the Indian National Army (INA). Apart from that there is Rajit Kapoor and many German and British actors.

The film has been made in the budget of Rs. 22 crore and is produced by Sahara One Motion Pictures. This is the costliest biographical film to be made in India. The title of the film is such because Netaji is remembered in Bengal but the rest of the country should remember his deeds as he has been consigned to the background. The film is expected to release on 6th may 2005 after almost a year it was made.