Gumnaami


Gumnaami is an Indian Bengali mystery film directed by Srijit Mukherji, which deals with Netaji's Death Mystery, based on the Mukherjee Commission Hearings. It has been produced by Shrikant Mohta, and Mahendra Soni under the banner of Shree Venkatesh Films. Actor Prosenjit Chatterjee plays the roles of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and Gumnaami Baba.
The principal photography began in May 2019 in Asansol, West Bengal. The film was released theatrically on 2 October 2019.

Plot

The film is based on the Mukherjee Commission Hearings and shows a dramatized version of the works of Anuj Dhar, Chandrachur Ghose and the Mission Netaji. The film shows the three theories trying to explain the death or disappearance of Subhas Chandra Bose.
The film starts with Subhash Chandra Bose at the Congress Conference. A courageous Subhash disagrees to follow the nonviolent methods of Gandhi and resigns from INC. He then travels the world disguised himself to make allies while confronting the British Army.
In 2003, journalist Chandrachur Dhar is given an assignment for sending reports on Subhash Chandra Bose Death mystery. He takes up the assignment and spends months to gather evidence and knowledge about Bose. His neglecting attitude towards his wife compelled her to divorce him. Mentally frustrated Dhar quits his job and forms a group entirely dedicated to the purpose for solving the mystery.
At the 2005 Mukherjee Commission he addresses the jury in a bold manner dedicated to bring the truth to the world. According to him, there was no plane crash at all in 1945. Bose had preplanned to fake his death to the world and asked his most trustworthy soldier of INA Habibur Rehman to be with him and not to disclose his fake death to anyone. To support his statement he showed numerous evidence like why he went to a six seater fighter plane when there was already 12-seater plane at that time, like there was no recorded plane crash that year, there was no news of death of the Japanese soldiers. After the judge was convinced that there was no plane crash on the stipulated date but asked where could he have possibly gone. Then he propagated the Siberia journey which was not the case. He lived as an ascetic in Uttar Pradesh without revealing his identity or face, the masses who visited him just used to hear his voice. A few people recognised him as soon as they heard his voice. However, they never revealed it to any third person. Even his close colleague and revolutionary, Leela Roy, and her husband recognised him when they visited him and sent letters. It revealed that the family members knew quite well about the fact that he was there alive. Numerous pieces of evidence were lying with them. Local P.D soon came to know but they could not track him. Gumnaami Baba lived long and died on 1985 one morning. Their disciples regretted as they felt that there should have been more than 13 lakh people should present at the funeral of a national hero, but only 13 disciples were present.
The next day, the commission concluded that there was no plane crash and Bose did not die in 1945. However, in 2006, the Government refused to accept the verdict and discarded the report. Angry and frustrated Dhar burns all his work and contemplates the purpose of his hard work of 3 years. His former wife encourages him to fight as Bose did for the country for 30 years. They vowed to keep on fighting till justice is served. This teaches that fighting is more important than victory, and so the fight to do justice to Netaji- by pressuring the government and authorities to bring an end to the mystery -will also go on.
In a flashback, Subhas Chandra Bose is seen singing Subh Sukh Chain, the National Anthem of the Provisional Government of Free India, along with the Indian National Army.

Cast

The teaser of the film was released on 15 August 2019 by Shree Venkatesh Films. Later, the trailer of the film was released on 8 September 2019 also by Shree Venkatesh Films in Bengali and Hindi.

Release and reception

The film released on 2 October 2019. The Times of India rated the above-mentioned movie 3 out of 5 stars.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack of the film is composed by I.N.A. and D. L. Roy, whereas background music and score is done by Indraadip Dasgupta. The lyrics are by D. L. Roy and Capt. Abid Ali Mumtaz Hussain.

Controversy

The director of the film Srijit Mukherji courted a controversy in February 2019, after Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's grand nephew Chandra Kumar Bose criticized him over portrayal of Gumnami Baba as Netaji in his upcoming film.