National Award-winning director Tigmanshu Dhulia’s Raag Desh is the first movie to be produced by Rajya Sabha TV and also the first to have its trailer launched at Parliament House. The film is based on the court-martial of Indian National Army’s (INA) Colonel Prem Sahgal, Colonel Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon and Major General Shah Nawaz Khan by the British in 1945. It throws light on Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and the INA’s contribution in India’s freedom struggle.
Raag Desh was screened for outgoing President Pranab Mukherjee at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Dhulia calls making Raag Desh “laborious and tedious but satisfying and overwhelming”. He says Gurdeep Singh Sapal, CEO of RSTV, approached him to make a movie on either Sardar Patel or the INA. Dhulia chose the INA because Ketan Mehta had already made a film on Patel, on which he had worked as an assistant art director.
“It’s an engaging subject that has been unexplored. If it has court room drama, it also shows the camaraderie of three soldiers, their allegiance to Netaji and the contribution of INA men in India’s Independence,” says Dhulia. “Kunal Kapoor as Major General Khan, Mohit Marwah as Col. Sehgal, Amit Sadh as Col. Dhillon, Kenny Basumatary as Netaji and Mrudula Murli as Capt. Laxmi Sehgal have done justice to these real-life characters.”
Basumatary was chosen for his striking resemblance to Bose. He says, “I had to do a lot of mental preparation for the role as I owed it to myself, to Netaji and to the film. He was a gentleman warrior who respected his opponent.”
For Kapoor, the “toughest part was to get the march past right. I had to get the mannerisms, accent and the mindset right for the role”. Marwah quips,
“It was like reliving and playing an important part of India’s history.”
Murli, who plays Marwah’s love interest as Capt Sehgal, says, “My role is about Capt Sehgal’s relationship with Netaji and INA, and explores a different dimension of her personality that was soft-spoken, chirpy, and yet intricate.”
The biggest compliment for the actors came from Subhashini Ali, Sehgal’s daughter, who praised them for for doing justice to the reel parts.
Raag Desh will also be aired as a six-part one-hour TV series.