जागे हैं अब सारे लोग: जावेद अख्तर देश भक्ति गीत

Acclaimed Indian director Shyam Benegal is best known for his intimate portraits of Indian women, so it comes as some surprise that his latest offering is a biopic of one of India’s most famous male icons, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. Sachin Khedekar plays Bose, a revolutionary whose mission is to rid India of the British Empire, even if it means going against Gandhi’s non-violent ideology. Informative and fascinating, this is one cinematic history lesson worth sitting through.

The final five years of Subhas Chandra Bose’s life marked not only an important phase in his own personal and political existence, but also the turning point in India’s struggle for independence from British rule. Right from his daring escape from India to Afghanistan in 1940, to his historic meeting with Adolf Hitler in Germany, alliances with the Russians, Italians and Japanese, and finally the formation of the Indian National Army, there is enough drama to keep you absorbed.

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero – TESTS EVEN DEDICATED CINEMAGOERS

Neatly divided into three chapters, Benegal ensures Bose’s amazing but complex life story is peppered with just the right amount of detail so as to be easily understood. But what stops this film from becoming a hit is its marathon length. At nearly three and a half hours, Bose: The Forgotten Hero tests even the most dedicated of cinemagoers. While breaks from battle scenes are provided in the form of flashbacks to Bose’s relationship with his Bengali mother and Austrian wife, even Khedekar’s gallant performance isn’t enough to make this a rousing affair.

जागे हैं अब सारे लोग तेरे देख वतन: जावेद अख्तर

जागे हैं अब सारे लोग तेरे देख वतन
गूँजे हैं नारों से अब ये ज़मीं और ये गगन
कल तक मैं तन्हा था सूने थे सब रस्ते
कल तक मैं तन्हा था पर अब है साथ मेरे लाखों दिलों की धड़कन
देख वतन

आज़ादी पायेंगे
आज़ादी लायेंगे
आज़ादी छायेगी
आज़ादी आयेगी आयेगी

जागे हैं अब सारे लोग तेरे देख वतन
गूँजे हैं नारों से अब ये ज़मीं और ये गगन
कल तक मैं तन्हा था सूने थे सब रस्ते
कल तक मैं तन्हा था पर अब है साथ मेरे लाखों दिलों की धड़कन
देख वतन

हम चाहें आज़ादी
हम माँगें आज़ादी
आज़ादी छायेगी
आज़ादी आयेगी आयेगी

∼ जावेद अख्तर

चित्रपट: नेताजी सुभाष चन्द्र बोस – द फॉरगॉटन हीरो (2005)
गीतकार: जावेद अख्तर
संगीतकार: ए. आर. रहमान
गायक: ए. आर. रहमान
सितारे: इन्द्राणी मुख़र्जी, अमरीश पूरी, सचिन खांडेकर, जिशु सेनगुप्ता