Court rejects petition against Netaji movie
- IndiaGlitz, [Friday,May 13 2005]
The Calcutta High Court Friday rejected a petition filed by five researchers seeking removal of scenes showing freedom fighter Subhas Chandra Bose as a married man in Shyam Benegal's film "Bose - The Forgotten Hero".
A two-member bench comprising Chief Justice V.S. Sirpurkar and judge Ashok Ganguly rejected the petition, observing "there is no intention in the film to impair the image of Netaji".
"Bose - The Forgotten Hero", a Rs.220 million production from Sahara One Motion Pictures, was released worldwide Friday.
While Anindya Mitra appeared for producers Sahara and Samaraditta Pal represented Benegal, Bose researcher and lawyer Rudrajyoti Bhattacharjee argued for himself and the other petitioners.
"Bose - The Forgotten Hero", which was premiered here Wednesday night, has scenes showing Bose getting married to his Austrian secretary Emily Schenkl in Germany and fathering their daughter Anita.
Hours before the premiere, the petition was filed in Calcutta High Court for depicting Bose's marriage in the film and the use of the word "forgotten" to describe the freedom fighter.
If the petition had been accepted, it could have been treated as a public interest litigation.
Earlier, the much-hyped May 5 premiere of the film, which was to be held at an Indian Army ground here in a bid to enter the Guinness Book of World Records, had to be cancelled.
The film captures Bose's life from 1941 to 1945 against the backdrop of World War II and the exploits of the Indian National Army led by him to free the country from the British rule.