Remembering - The Forgotten Army

I was recently suggested by Youtube to watch a web series on Amazon Prime about Azad Hind Fauz led by Bose. Many reviewers trashed the action drama directed by Kabir Khan. But for me it served as an investigative documentary to understand our past. The budget of the series seems stupendous, Pritam’s music is annoying, CGI is choppy and a romantic subplot is iffy.

But the protagonist is Sunny Kaushal (Vicky Kaushal’s brother) and one may just like to watch the series for this young talent as Lt. Surinder Sodhi. Although some of the other notable characters were Arshad, Rasamma, Rajan and Pummy. But Sodhi appealed to me the most. He is a man of order, although in some ways we all are puppets of our order?

Episode one shows the Battle of Singapore which was fought during World War II between a western power and eastern power. Like always eastern side was diligent and western was resourceful. So in the South-East Asian theatre of WW2 the eastern side crossed the vast Malayan jungles. And eventually thirty thousand Japanese captured ninety thousand British Raj soldiers.

In one scene a nemesis asked if the captured Indian soldier followed teachings of Gandhi. And spared his life because an opponent's opponent is a friend. But isn’t the dilemma of war is to identify a friend or an enemy? The captured Indian soldiers were initiated in the Indian National Army which led them to ponder their allegiance to a nation. That’s when a charismatic leader, Netaji gave a direction with the slogan of “Chalo Dilli”.

In the following episode a needy street artist joins the battle. Well when an artisan has to join a fight, probably the countrymen have lost their freedom?

Subsequently we realize a key aspect of this legion, Rani Laxmibai regiment. This cadre was an all women force, first of its kind in the modern world. In retrospective I imagine what could happen if the world has more women soldiers. 

In history oftentimes the subdued are given privileges in a society, but never given equal rights. One such example is when an immigrant is given space in a rich state but she is never given equal status as a native.

Next, watching a poor farm girl we are shown a petty example of what atrocities the colonized people faced. 

I was reminded of one of the most cherished slogans, “Jai Kisan, Jai Jawan”  (Victory of Farmer, Victory of Soldier) by Shastriji. I thought to myself that only if a farmer and a soldier can blossom in the state affairs, then and only then can a nation flourish. I got so excited that I shared this in my Watch Party group. But my techie friend argued that in the modern world the farms are controlled by robots and probably the next fight will be between robots!

Overall this series was packed with lessons and questions. On a lighter note one such lesson was about the game of Cricket. It began as a good catalyst to engage a heterogeneous crowd in a grand experiment/ tragedy of the past. Merit of that Commonwealth game has not changed over the years. And though now it has matured to be a game of different races, caste, creed and/ or gender, the real winners mint money in this 1.6 billion viewers but non-Olympic sport. While the losers bet for their favorite players and teams.

By the way Commonwealth sounds like a cuss word, and if wealth is really common, can the poor get their share. (at least the promised 15 lakhs INR?)

And one aspect I didn't understand was why Netaji kept the national flag with a spinning wheel. He was a well known Gandhian and his idea of freedom was based on fighting for truth, but was Gandhi so important to him? And if so, why do the followers of Netaji lament about our Father of nation?

One thing I took away from the series was that generally we all fight for causes. But oftentimes questioning the cause can lead to a new plane of reality (or Drishti in Sanskrit).

I appreciate Kabir and ShahRukh Khan for making this series and even after a passage of time remembering “The Forgotten Army”. Lastly the intentions and grit of these soldiers is commendable and should be honored by us. And thus to keep the legend alive I posted this review.