'Bose...' not a boring historical show: ALTBalaji CEO

By Brandon Ambosta

on November 26, 2017

The idea behind presenting the new web series "Bose: Dead/Alive" was to position Subhas Chandra Bose as a dashing personality like James Bond, rather than replicating staid images of the Indian National Army founder, ALTBalaji CEO said on Saturday Nachiket Pantvaidya.

The web series, which features Rajkummar Rao and Patralekha, explores the journey of Subhas Chandra Bose from being an introvert to a brave nationalist. Filmmaker Hansal Mehta has served as creative director on the project.

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Speaking at a panel discussion on 'Digital Space - The Future Ahead' on the sidelines of the ongoing 48th International Film Festival of India (IFFI), Pantvaidya also said that the series, which has just reeled off recently on the online platform, was positioned as a thriller and not a "boring" historical show.

"It was Ekta (Kapoor), Hansal Mehta, Rajkummar Rao, all three got together and basically backed the vision with two things. One is we wanted to essentially make a thriller with Bose. We don't want to make a historical film. If you see the show, it is 'Is Bose dead or alive'. That's the episode hook everywhere," Pantvaidya said.

"So, we do not want to show boring history. We thought that we should not present round spectacles, khakhi things with broad belt kind of Bose. Our Bose was closer to James Bose (like James Bond). He is there. He has a life. he wants to rebel. He has a character, he has a personality," Pantvaidya added.

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He also said, that the objective of the show was to take the stories of the Independence struggle to the age group of 18-25 years, who do not understand the turbulent period of time.

"We are saying that Bose is a person who has seen patriotism differently, Bose is a person who looks at his personal life differently, he is an icon for the youth. People do not understand the Independence struggle, in the age group of 18 to 25 as some older people do. So, we want to make it more relevant to that and present it as a thriller," Pantvaidya added.