Gumnami Baba was an ascetic from Uttar Pradesh in the 1970s that many believed to be freedom fighter Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in disguise. The latter had gone missing after a plane crash in Taiwan. Now, the story of the mysterious Baba is set to be made into a motion picture, with filmmaker Srijit Mukherji at the helm. Mukherji had received acclaim for his last outing Uma, told PTI that he had been toying with the idea ever since he read a newspaper article on the ascetic in 2016.
With Prosenjit Chatterjee in the titular role, the film is scheduled to go on floors in 2019. "I am currently doing my homework. The project will commence next year," Mukherji said, refusing to divulge further details about the film.
Sharing a picture of Netaji on his Twitter handle on Saturday, Chatterjee had said, "Today, 18th August, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose boarded the flight in Taiwan before
disappearing forever. SVF, Srijit Mukherjee and Prosenjit Chatterjee are delighted to announce a film on the mysterious case of Gumnami Baba, a man many thought was Netaji."
A one-man commission constituted by the Centre to find out about the disappearance or death of Netaji nixed the air crash theory, but could not confirm if the ascetic in UP was Bose due to absence of "clinching evidence".
SVF co-founder Shrikant Mohta expressed hope that the film will receive good response at the box office. "We are optimistic that this film will garner positive
critical and audience response," he said. The yet-untitled film is slated for release in 2019.