Dear Friend Hitler

Dear Friend Hitler, released in India as Gandhi to Hitler,[2] is a 2011 Indian drama film based on letters written by Mohandas Gandhi to the leader of the Nazi Party and Chancellor of Germany Adolf Hitler. The film, starring Raghubir Yadav as Adolf Hitler and Neha Dhupia as Eva Braun, was directed by Rakesh Ranjan Kumar and produced by Anil Kumar Sharma under the production house Amrapali media vision. It was screened at the 61st Berlin International Film Festival where it received negative reviews.[3][4] Film Business Asia quoted that "despite the provocative title, the film is not a tribute to the murderous Führer".[5] It premiered in India on 29 July 2011.

Dear Friend Hitler
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRakesh Ranjan Kumar[1]
Produced byDr. Parth
Screenplay byRakesh Ranjan Kumar
Story byNalin Singh
Rakesh Ranjan Kumar
StarringNalin Singh Raghubir Yadav
Neha Dhupia
Aman Verma[1]
Music byArvind-Lyton
Background Score:
Sanjoy Chowdhury
CinematographyFuwad Khan
Edited byShree Narayan Singh
Distributed byAmrapali Media Vision Pvt. Ltd.
Release date
  • 29 July 2011 (2011-07-29)
[2]
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi

Plot

The film is set during World War II and centres upon the letters written by Mohandas Gandhi (Avijit Dutt) to Adolf Hitler (Raghubir Yadav), and around the relationship of Hitler with his long-term lover Eva Braun (Neha Dhupia), whom he married in his final days in the Berlin bunker in which they died. The film depicts the difference between the ideologies of Gandhi and Hitler and claims the superiority of Gandhism over Nazism.

Cast

Production

Anupam Kher had originally agreed to play the role of Hitler, but he backed out after Jewish organisations in India condemned him for playing the part because of Hitler's massacre of millions of Jews.[6][7] The filmmakers accused Kher of not returning the ₹4 lakh (400,000 rupees) he had been paid after signing the contract and consequently sued him for ₹2.5 crore (25 million rupees).[8] However, Kher perceived it as a way of filmmakers to promote their film before the release.[9] It is the only mainstream Bollywood film to refer to the Indian Legion, a Waffen-SS unit recruited from Indian volunteers.

Criticism and controversies
Domestic Poster

British newspaper, The Guardian, declared the film to be profoundly misguided and to show a shocking ignorance of history. Noah Massil, president of the Central Organization of Indian Jews in Israel (COIJI) stated that "he would write to President Pratibha Patil and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to intervene in order to prevent bringing disrepute to our entertainment industry", but the filmmakers claimed that the film does not glorify Hitler, but rather juxtaposes him against Gandhi's ideology of peace.[10][11]

We clarified that the movie is not about Hitler's ideology, but how his ideology of violence conflicts with Gandhi's ideology of peace. There is no glorification of Hitler's character.

— Anil Kumar Sharma, The Times of India[4]

Reception

The film was met with negative reviews. The Times of India gave the film 2 stars out of 5, calling it an "unnecessary play with history".[12] The Daily News and Analysis gave the movie one star.[13] NDTV criticised the movie for using Indian actors to play all non-Indian characters, using India itself as a stand-in to Europe, and for its "strands".[14] Koimoi gave the film 0.5/5; although it praised Yadav's performance as Hitler, it criticised the film's script, direction, technical values, soundtrack, and the performance from other actors.[15]

References
  1. "Opening Credits". dearfriendhitlerthefilm.com. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  2. "Gandhi to Hitler / Dear Friend Hitler - Times Of India". The Times of India. The Times Group. 4 July 2011. Retrieved 2 August 2011.
  3. Entertainment Desk (5 March 2011). "Berlin cleared misconceptions about 'My Friend Hitler': Scriptwriter". Banglanews24. Archived from the original on 16 March 2012. Retrieved 18 March 2011.
  4. Times News Network (22 February 2011). "Hitler goes to Berlin". The Times of India. The Times Group. Retrieved 18 March 2011.
  5. "Indian Hitler film gets Berlin launch". 24 March 2011. Retrieved 24 March 2011.
  6. Bollywood Hungama News Network (19 June 2010). "Anupam Kher bows out from Dear Friend Hitler". Bollywood Hungama. Retrieved 18 March 2011.
  7. Indian Express Agencies (7 March 2011). "Anupam Kher's backout hurt Neha Dhupia". Indian Express. Indian Express Limited. Retrieved 19 March 2011.
  8. "Anupam Kher".
  9. "Gandhi To Hitler filmmakers to sue Anupam Kher". The Hindustan Times. New Delhi: HT Media. 21 July 2011. Archived from the original on 22 July 2011. Retrieved 24 July 2011.
  10. Tunzelmann, Alex von (11 June 2010). "Why Bollywood's film about Hitler is profoundly misguided". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  11. "Planned Bollywood movie 'Dear Friend Hitler' angers Indian Jews". World Jewish Congress. New York. 16 June 2010. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  12. "Gandhi to Hitler". The Times of India.
  13. "Review: Gandhi to Hitler is an assault on senses and cinema". Daily News and Analysis. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  14. "Gandhi to Hitler". NDTV. 29 July 2011. Archived from the original on 30 November 2012. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  15. "Gandhi To Hitler Review". Koimoi. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
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