Prabhas' 'Fauzi' faces backlash over Netaji-Hitler scene, grandnephew seeks teaser takedown

Prabhas' upcoming period action film Fauzi has landed in controversy after Chandra Kumar Bose, grandnephew of freedom fighter Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, demanded that the film’s teaser be taken down. He has accused the makers of misrepresenting Netaji’s meeting with Adolf Hitler and urged director Hanu Raghavapudi to release a revised teaser that respects historical accuracy.

The teaser, titled File No 25, was released on October 23 to mark Prabhas’ 47th birthday. Its opening scene recreates a meeting between Netaji and Hitler in Berlin in 1942. It then uses the conversation to introduce Prabhas’ fictional character as a spy, soldier and strategist who poses a serious challenge to British intelligence. This portrayal has prompted objections over the use of a real freedom fighter to build up a fictional protagonist.

Chandra Kumar Bose Demands Removal Of 'Fauzi' Teaser

On Monday, Chandra Kumar Bose took to X to call for the teaser’s removal. Responding to a post by socio-political leader Suparno Satpathy, who had praised the video while cautioning against mixing fiction with history, Bose urged the director and production team to release a replacement that does not distort historical events.

“Mixing fiction with history is a crime. I hope director Hanu Raghavapudi and his movie team pull down this teaser, put out a new one and make sure that history is not distorted. Hope Prabhas too gets to read this,” he wrote.

Speaking to IANS on Sunday, Bose said filmmakers could portray India’s freedom struggle and its leaders on screen, but argued that creative storytelling should not come at the expense of historical accuracy. He alleged that the teaser presents a misleading version of Netaji’s interaction with Hitler and diminishes the freedom fighter’s stature.

Why Netaji's Meeting With Hitler Has Sparked Objections

The disputed scene shows Netaji speaking to Hitler about an Indian superspy who has troubled the British and helped Japan gain control of Singapore. The conversation also refers to a code inspired by the Bhagavad Gita, presented as a powerful tool against British intelligence.

Bose argued that Netaji approached the meeting with a strategic understanding of the international situation during the Second World War. He said the freedom fighter recognised the potential for Germany and Japan to assist India’s struggle for independence.

“Netaji recognised that Germany’s Hitler and Japan’s Hideki Tojo could provide assistance to India’s freedom movement at that juncture,” he said.

What Sparked The Debate?

The controversy gained momentum after Satpathy shared the teaser on X, praising its impact while warning against combining fictional storytelling with real historical figures in a way that could mislead viewers. He argued that films can influence generations and that showing Netaji endorsing a fictional character could leave audiences with an inaccurate impression of historical events.

The debate centres on how the teaser uses the meeting between Netaji and Hitler to establish Prabhas’ character. While critics have questioned the portrayal of the freedom fighter, supporters have argued that Fauzi is a work of fiction.

Chandra Kumar Bose, a socio-political activist and former BJP vice-president in West Bengal, has maintained that the makers should take the sensitivity surrounding Netaji’s legacy into account.