Dear Friend Hitler

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Dear Friend Hitler
Dear Friend Hitler film poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Rakesh Ranjan Kumar[1]
Produced by Dr. Anil Kumar Sharma
Screenplay by Rakesh Ranjan Kumar
Story by Nalin Singh
Rakesh Ranjan Kumar
Starring Raghubir Yadav
Neha Dhupia
Aman Verma[1]
Music by Arvind-Lyton
Background Score:
Sanjoy Chowdhury
Cinematography Fuwad Khan
Edited by Shree Narayan Singh
Distributed by Amrapali Media Vision Pvt. Ltd.
Release dates
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  • 29 July 2011 (2011-07-29)
[2]
Country India
Language Hindi

Dear Friend Hitler (Hindi: प्रिय मित्र हिटलर), released in India as Gandhi to Hitler,[2] is a multilingual Indian drama film based on letters written by Mohandas Gandhi to the leader of the Nazi Party and Chancellor of Germany Adolf Hitler. The film, starring Raghubir Yadav as Adolf Hitler and Neha Dhupia as Eva Braun, was directed by Rakesh Ranjan Kumar and produced by Anil Kumar Sharma under the production house Amrapali media vision. It was screened at the 61st Berlin International Film Festival where it received negative reviews.[3][4] Film Business Asia quoted that "despite the provocative title, the film is not a tribute to the murderous Führer".[5] It premiered in India on 29 July 2011.

Plot

The film is set during World War II and centres upon the letters written by Mohandas Gandhi (Avijit Dutt) to Adolf Hitler (Raghubir Yadav), and around the relationship of Hitler with his long-term lover Eva Braun (Neha Dhupia), whom he married in his final days in the Berlin bunker in which they died. The film depicts the difference between the ideologies of Gandhi and Hitler and claims the superiority of Gandhism over Nazism.

Cast

Production

Anupam Kher had originally agreed to play the role of Hitler, but he backed out after Jewish organisations in India condemned him for playing the part because of Hitler's massacre of millions of Jews.[6][7] The filmmakers accused Kher of not returning the ₹4 lakh(400,000 rupees) he had been paid after signing the contract and consequently sued him for ₹2.5 crore (25 million rupees).[8] However, Kher perceived it as a way of filmmakers to promote their film before the release.[9] It is the only mainstream Bollywood film to refer to Indian Legion.

Criticism and controversies

Domestic Poster

British newspaper, The Guardian, declared the film to be profoundly misguided and to show a shocking ignorance of history. Noah Massil, president of the Central Organization of Indian Jews in Israel (COIJI) stated that "he would write to President Pratibha Patil and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to intervene in order to prevent bringing disrepute to Indian entertainment industry", but the filmmakers claimed that the film does not glorify Hitler, but rather juxtaposes him against Gandhi's ideology of peace.[10][11]

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We clarified that the movie is not about Hitler's ideology, but how his ideology of violence conflicts with Gandhi's ideology of peace. There is no glorification of Hitler's character.

— Anil Kumar Sharma, The Times of India[4]

Reception

The film met with negative reviews. The Times of India gave the film 2 stars out of 5, calling it an "unnecessary play with history".[12] The Daily News and Analysis gave the movie one star.[13] NDTV criticised the movie for using Indian actors to play all non-Indian characters, using India itself as a stand-in to Europe, and for its "strands".[14] Koimoi gave the film 0.5/5; although it praised Yadav's performance as Hitler, it criticised the film's script, direction, technical values, soundtrack, and the performance from other actors.[15]

The film's theatrical poster also used a still from Downfall, specifically the scene where Mohnke's group approaches the square, as pointed out by members of Downfall fan community.[16] So far the producers of the film have not commented on this issue. Several scenes, including the often-parodied scene of Hitler throwing a rage on hearing that Steiner did not attack, were also directly lifted from Downfall.

References

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  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.2/5 stars
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.1/5 stars
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.0.5/5 stars
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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