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Sunday 31 July 2011

Gandhi to Hitler

Story: The film captures Hitler's last days which he spent hiding in a bunker, while the Allied Forces closed in on Berlin at the end of World War ll. The tension builds up as loyalists flee and the German dictator (Raghubir Yadav) is left, almost alone with his mistress Eva Braun (Neha Dhupia).

Movie Review: Did anyone mention Gandhi in the title of the film? Seems strange, because Gandhi remains a shadowy figure in the entire proceedings, now and then marching through fields and mouthing soliloquies on nationalism and non-violence before a motley bunch of silent followers. The only link that the film maker establishes between the two disparate leaders is through a couple of letters which Gandhi pens to Hitler, giving him gyan on ahimsa and tyag. Don't know whether the German leader received the letters or even read them!

Apart from this tenuous link between Gandhi and Hitler, there is another superficial track of a bunch of Indian soldiers who enter hostile terrain on the bidding of Subhash Chandra Bose. Led by Aman Verma, the misguided Indian patriots keep reminiscing about their fields and family in Punjab while dodging enemy bullets. Connection, please?

And finally, there is the character of Hitler....Now Raghubir Yadav is a fine actor who has entertained us with many memorable performances. But here, he makes a complete caricature of the protagonist who has been part and parcel of many landmark films. The only person who seems to get a slight hold on her character is Neha Dhupia who doesn't reduce Eva Braun to a parody unlike the other historical figures.

Tip Off: This one's an unnecessary play with history, trying to superficially compare India's nationalist movement with German nationalism.

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