WHAT was the most difficult moment for you in shaping Netaji, the forgotten hero?
“Give me blood and I’ll give you freedom”. That speech of Netaji was the most difficult moment in the film. It’s the best-known incident in Netaji’s life, probably the only thing most people know about him today. I was terribly tense. Imagine having to deliver it before the whole army! They were actors of course, but still 5,000 people before you! A non-actor doesn’t fear the audience but I’m a good actor. Maharashtrians are said to be dry, austere. How did you turn yourself into a Bengali firebrand? Without a helpful family background of freedom fighters, and living in this age of disillusionment, how did you understand the passions of the past? It was difficult. I had no freedom fighter grandfather or grand uncle. To become a firebrand was even more difficult. For two years I studied all the material on the Netaji books, audio recordings, film footage, talked to people who knew him, and then tried to get at the “mood” of the man and his times. There was a whole range of things on my
