Hitler comes to BollyTown...

Comments [ 3 ] By Parm K. | 12 June 2010 | 1:23pm

For the first time ever, Bollywood is keen on analyzing the figure of Hitler, and in particular, his last days in the Berlin bunker with Eva Braun in 1945, in a project that promises to provoke fierce controversy.

The film, titled Dear Friend Hitler, which is directed by debutant Rakesh Ranjan Kumar, will be in cinemas next month. This is an unusual theme for an industry that rarely produces historical documentaries. However, the director did clear the air that this will not be a war movie.

Instead, the film aims to present the character of Hitler and his insecurities, his charisma and his paranoia during his final days, Rakesh revealed in an interview. The dictator and his Nazi Aryan ideologies are a subject well-known to the Indian public. In particular, the film will also show Hitler's love for India and how it inadvertently contributed to Indian independence from the British colonialists.

The director also addressed the issue of Indian brigades led by Subhash Chandra Bose, sent to fight alongside the Nazis in Germany. The protagonists of the movie are Anupam Kher, chosen for its resemblance to the dictator and Neha Dhupia, former Miss India, who plays Eva Braun's role.