Gumnaami row: Srijit Mukherji cheated censor board, alleges Chandra Bose; filmmaker warns

Taking to Twitter, Chandra Bose, who had contested the 2019 Lok Sabha polls in Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s ticket, said, "How can people watch a film produced by a corrupt person who's in jail, a Director who has cheated the Censor Board to get the Certification, draws parallels with #GumnamiBaba suspected to be a murderer to #Netaji?? This is high treason!"

Countering Bose, Srijit warned the BJP leader saying on Twitter, "I will ask you to be careful about your choice of words @Chandrabosebjp one last time. You have threatened me in a press conference and are now saying that I cheated the censor board not realizing the respected panel watches the whole movie, doesn't read an one liner abt it."

Netaji's family has accused the director of altering the name of the film from Gumnaami Baba to Gumnaami to get the certification.

The family said in a statement, "For the last year ever since Srijit announced the film 'Gumnami Baba' he has said it is based on the book 'Conundrum' by Chandrachud Ghosh & Anuj Dhar & has appeared with the authors. He has suddenly changed his stance to get past the Censor Board & says the film is based on the Justice Mukherjee Commission Report. He has also changed the name of the film !...."

Netaji's family has also come out with a criticism of the All India Forward Bloc (AIFB), the Kolkata office of which hosted the trailer launch of Gumnaami on last Sunday.

Accusing Srijit of duping public with his own theory of Netaji's death and disappearance, the family said in a statement, "...This report states on p 121 - 122 that the DNA tests carried out with the teeth of the Baba & the blood of 5 Bose family members shows that there is NO  match. Have the leaders of the Forward Bloc read this report ? 

Thus Srijit is duping the public & his so-called third theory about Netaji is a complete hoax. It is shocking that the Forward Bloc has been taken in by this & invited Srijit to show a trailer in the presence of media."

"Why can't @Chandrabosebjp get it that a negated theory is still a theory about which people have a right to know and how and why it was negated! How can a seasoned politician not understand the basics? Of course, it is a different matter if he is somehow scared of the theory!:)" Srijit countered the Netaji family in a tweet.

The trailer has been released online in both Bengali and Hindi languages.

The film Gumnaami is based on the Mukherjee Commission hearings that take us through the various theories on the death and disappearance of one of the greatest freedom fighters of British India Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.

After surpassing multiple legal notices, remonstrances from a certain faction of the Bose family and various altercations the  trailer of the film released on Sunday in the august presence of Bose family members Jayanti Bose Rakshit, Arya Kumar Bose, Indranil Mitra, noted researcher on Netaji - Dr. Purabi Roy, and other members of All India Forward Bloc.

Speaking about the trailer and his upcoming release, director Srijit on Sunday said, “Gumnaami is a film that does not give any verdict on what happened to one of our greatest leaders in the country – Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose but prompts the audience and the people of the country to question the fate of this legendary leader.

It is my humble attempt to ensure that the forthcoming generations continue in their quest to seek the truth behind the disappearance of one of India’s greatest hero.”   

Tollywood superstar Prosenjit Chatterjee has essayed the character of Netaji in Gumnaami, which is slated to release on October 2.