Dear Friend Hitler

Dear Friend Hitler

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
  • 29 July 2011

[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 debutant Rakesh Ranjan Kumar and produced by Anil Kumar Sharma under the production house Amrapali media vision. The film's promotion was screened at the 61st Berlin International Film Festival where it received positive reviews.[3][4] Film Business Asia quoted that "despite the provocative title, the film is not a tribute to the murderous Führer".[5] The film was scheduled to release on 29 July 2011 in India.[6]

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.[7]

Cast

The main cast of the film is:[8]

Anupam Kher had originally agreed to play the role of Hitler, but he later backed out after Jewish organisations in India condemned him for playing the part because of Hitler's massacre of millions of Jews.[9][10] The filmmakers accused Kher of not returning the INR4 lakhs(400,000 rupees) he had been paid after signing the contract and consequently sued him for INR2.5 crores (25 million rupees).[11] However, Kher perceived it as a way of filmmakers to promote their film before the release.[12] 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.[13][14]

“ 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]

Critical reception

The film was met with negative reviews. Times of India gave the film 2 stars out of 5, calling it an "unnecessary play with history".[15] DNAIndia.com gave the movie one star.[16] NDTVMovies.com criticized 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".[17] Koimoi.com gave the film 0.5/5; although it praised Yadav's performance as Hitler, it criticized the film's script, direction, technical values, soundtrack, and the performance from other actors.[18]

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 a Downfall fan community.[19] 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.

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Opening Credits". dearfriendhitlerthefilm.com. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Gandhi to Hitler / Dear Friend Hitler - Times Of India". The Times of India (The Times Group). 4 July 2011. Retrieved 2 August 2011.
  3. ↑ Entertainment Desk (5 March 2011). "Berlin cleared misconceptions about ‘My Friend Hitler’: Scriptwriter". Banglanews24. Retrieved 18 March 2011.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Times News Network (22 February 2011). "Hitler goes to Berlin". The Times of India (The Times Group). Retrieved 18 March 2011.
  5. ↑ "Indian Hitler film gets Berlin launch". 24 March 2011. Retrieved 24 March 2011.
  6. ↑ Indiantelevision.com Team (10 March 2011). "Dear Friend Hitler to release in May". Indiantelevision.com (Zee Cinema). Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  7. ↑ "Synopsis". dearfriendhitlerthefilm.com. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  8. ↑ "Cast and Crew". Amrapali Media Vision. Retrieved 19 March 2011.
  9. ↑ Bollywood Hungama News Network (19 June 2010). "Anupam Kher bows out from Dear Friend Hitler". Bollywood Hungama. Retrieved 18 March 2011.
  10. ↑ Indian Express Agencies (7 March 2011). "Anupam Kher's backout hurt Neha Dhupia". Indian Express (Indian Express Limited). Retrieved 19 March 2011.
  11. ↑ http://www.indiantelevision.com/aac/y2k11/aac770.php
  12. ↑ "Gandhi To Hitler filmmakers to sue Anupam Kher". The Hindustan Times (New Delhi: HT Media). 21 July 2011. Retrieved 24 July 2011.
  13. ↑ Tunzelmann, Alex von (2010-06-11). "Why Bollywood's film about Hitler is profoundly misguided". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  14. ↑ "Planned Bollywood movie ‘Dear Friend Hitler’ angers Indian Jews". World Jewish Congress (New York). 2010-06-16. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  15. ↑ "Gandhi to Hitler - The Times of India". The Times Of India.
  16. ↑ "Review: Gandhi to Hitler is an assault on senses and cinema - Entertainment - DNA". Dnaindia.com. Retrieved 2012-07-13.
  17. ↑ "Gandhi to Hitler - NDTVMovies.com". Movies.ndtv.com. 2011-07-29. Retrieved 2012-07-13.
  18. ↑ "Gandhi To Hitler Review". Koimoi.com. Retrieved 2012-07-13.
  19. ↑ "Dear Friend Hitler copied from Downfall". Retrieved 1 April 2012.

External links