Post News Network
Cuttack: The audio-visual auditorium at Netaji Birthplace Museum here will shortly screen a new documentary on the lives of men from the state who served as soldiers of the Indian National Army (INA) the iconic freedom fighter raised in the pre-independence era.
The documentary is the labour of love of Saiprasad Mahapatra, a youth from Bhadrak, who has almost completed the project with his own efforts. The 20-minute documentary is in Oriya, English and Hindi.
Mahapatra, who works as a television journalist in Mumbai, has managed to showcase fascinating information on Netaji and INA, popularly known as Azad Hind Fauj, as mentioned in the book ‘His Majesty’s Opponent: Subhas Chandra Bose and India’s Struggle against Empire’ written by Sugata Bose, the great-nephew of Netaji.
According to the book, Netaji succeeded in escaping from house arrest in Calcutta and reached Germany via Afghanistan and other countries. The iconic leader had established the INA in Singapore with support from the then Japanese government.
Netaji’s clarion call—“Give me blood, I will give you freedom”—had attracted many Indians, including several Oriyas working abroad, to the INA, which had a few training camps in Singapore and Rangoon in then Myanmar for its soldiers, says the book.
The British government had taken many INA soldiers as war prisoners after the latter were defeated by the British Indian Army. These patriots, after their release from jail, were asked to report to the local police stations at regular intervals. The British administration in India was suspicious of the activities of the former INA soldiers, says the book.
“A few Oriyas had joined the INA. Many of them have passed away. I have consulted two living former INA soldiers from Orissa and the family members of two deceased ones to collect information for this documentary,” said Mahapatra. The movie depicts situations and scenes about the formation of the INA, its training programmes, warfare and the lives of its soldiers in independent India, he added.
Sources familiar with the project said Mahapatra has completed shooting with the help of cameraman Prasanna Kumar Pradhan, a resident of Cuttack-Choudwar area. Giri Patra of Berhampur has been engaged to do the editing work.
According to Mahapatra, former INA soldier Khali Pradhan (95), of Ranapur in Nayagarh district, worked as a labourer after his release from jail. Similarly, Pradhan’s INA colleague Uchhab Jena, of Puri, took to farming for his livelihood.
“Former INA soldier Kapil Charan Roy, of Malipada in Khurda, had engaged himself in social service till his death. Another INA soldier Bhramarbar Samatray, of Damarbhuin in Khurda, had served in Orissa Military Police in independent India,” said Mahapatra.
Sources said many Oriya youths working in Mumbai are providing unconditional help to Mahapatra for the documentary project. “I am an admirer of Netaji, and I have gone through many books and articles on him. However, the idea of a documentary on the iconic leader struck me when I visited the Netaji Birthplace Museum last year,” said Mahapatra.
Jyotiprakash Das, curator of the museum, said the new documentary on Netaji and the INA will provide many hitherto unknown information to viewers.