On the occasion of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s 125th birth anniversary yesterday, Bengali superstar Prosenjit Chatterjee and director Srijit Mukherji revisit their controversial film, Gumnaami. Excerpts:

Srijit: I generally feel the angst and not-getting-our-due kind of sentiments work majorly with Bengalis. But unfortunately that has expressed itself much more strongly and violently in the case of Sourav Ganguly than Subhas Chandra Bose. That sentiment came out whenever Sourav was unfairly dropped.

In the case of Subhas Bose, apart from the undying sentiment that he is going to return, politically he was considered to be a tragic hero, that is all. Unfairness or not getting his due, are phrases I would have liked our previous generations to come up with, and act upon and position themselves strongly. I have not seen evidence of that happening.

Srijit’s reasoning, his issue was different. I was not going for any controversy — my job was to deliver as per the director’s requirement. Initially for months, I tried to convince Srijit that I was okay with playing Gumnaami Baba, but I completely disagreed with his idea of casting me as Subhas Chandra Bose. I do not look like Netaji from any angle! But then, if any actor in the world got a chance to play any of the characters – Hitler, Lenin, Rabindranath, Vivekananda, Gandhi ji, will he not take up the challenge?

Questions needed to be asked, theories needed to be discussed, truth is something which we can come to later. We need to ask the questions first. Systematically, over the last few decades, questions have been muffled, people have been misled, commissions made in a makeshift kind of manner, not with the rigour one of our greatest national heroes deserves. As a result, the common Indian who breathes free India’s air, he/she is pushed away further and further away from the truth. My narrative was about asking those questions. Think about it, how can you make a film like Gandhi without Subhas Bose? They were intrinsically entwined in the freedom struggle.

Srijit: I faced roadblocks, death threats, high court injunctions, was trolled, bullied. When these happen, you know you are on the right track. Because these questions put a lot of committees, parties, their fundings, certain lobbies, factions of Netaji’s family under the scanner. It was not an easy journey. But we owed this as a collective populace of a free country to a person who probably is the most important reason why we are free.

All the three theories – the plane crash, death in Russia and his return to India as Gumnaami Baba, need to be known and discussed. Sides need to be taken. And I have taken a side.

With Netaji, I could not get creative. I had to get the look, the gait, the jaw line spot on. But Srijit told me, Gumnaami Baba is a confusion, an enigma. Just as you have to be convincing as Subhas, as Gumnaami Baba, you have to be like him, but not entirely. So that there is some doubt in the audience’s mind.

So, I worked on the dubbing and the makeup. My voice as Gumnaami Baba will remind you of Subhas. But he is an older man and so he will sound different, even though his mannerisms would be similar. We worked for hours on just the dubbing to get it right.

So here, we’ve a devout Hindu who worshipped idols, but who’s very secular, whose right-hand man was a Muslim and an army full of Muslim generals, and yet the party which he formed eventually became a part of the Left combine. His venn diagram is incredible! On top of that he was a stupendous political strategist and a selfless son of India. He was a giant in every sense. It’s but natural for everyone to come and pick what’s convenient for them and appropriate Netaji for themselves.

What I liked about the script was that in the end, there was an emotional question from the director, not a statement to all Indians. Here is our greatest hero, and what do we answer to him? As an actor, I understood my director’s mind. He is not playing with Netaji the hero, but with emotions. My job as an actor was to support his vision and connect with the audience.

What happens when someone in the family goes missing? What do you feel when a loved one suddenly disappears and people all around you are getting into all kinds of speculations? As an actor, I learnt a few things in depth. And I sincerely believe, there was a time when he perhaps should have been back. Now, I don’t know. But looking back I feel it was a huge miss. We should have had him as our leader.