‘Gandhi to Hitler’ the film brings in a sharp contrast between the two leaders by the letters they exchange. It is about the last days of Adolf Hitler, when he is hiding in a bunker in Berlin as the Allied Forces close in.
Hitler is one of the most hated men in history, a ruthless leader and this is when he is hunted down and killed. The contrast is highlighted when Hitler mutters in rage –”An eye for an eye!'” and Gandhi the peace loving leader’s preaching to the world is – “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind…”
The film Gandhi to Hitler was originally titled as Dear Friend Hitler.
1939 – A world plagued with unrest and upheaval. Adolf Hitler’s ruthless ambition for German expansion in Eastern Europe is becoming increasingly violent and inhuman.
Whereas another nation, India, struggles in its fight for freedom against the British as the idealistic Mahatama Gandhi continues to appeal to his countrymen to adopt a stand of non-violence and that’s why Gandhiji had penned two letters to the German dictator to reconsider his political decisions.
A stark contrast in ideologies even with an eventual common opponent, Gandhi one day decides to pen a letter to the German dictator… a letter he hoped would persuade Hitler to change his path and avoid the Second World War, avoid the massive calamity that it would bring on.
Gandhi then wrote a second letter to Hitler, this time closer to Hitler’s own downfall, at a time when Hitler was plagued with betrayal all around him while confined to an underground bunker.
We witness a contrast in the ideologies of these two leaders and the eminent result of Hitler’s brutal and catastrophic methods.
Gandhi to Hitler looks at Hitler’s downfall, his last days when only his love Eva Braun and his trusted aide Joseph Goebbels stood by him, as the Germany around him crumbled and his trusted comrades deserted him; and through the central young couple Balbir and Amrita we see that the fate of many was determined by the ideology that they chose to adopt.
Gandhi to Hitler establishes the superiority of Gandhism over Nazism, thereby giving the message of world peace, a message still relevant in today’s context where the world continues to grapple with the dark clouds of terrorism.
This is a period film and credit has to be given to the director for presenting the minutest of the details of the bygone era. At some places the footage of World War II war carnage is used. Raghuvir Yadav is an experienced actor and plays Hitler’s part well so does Neha Dhupia who plays Eva Braun, Hitler’s longtime companion whom he married in his final days.
What is the end result? With ahimsa, India achieved freedom which shows the fluttering Indian tricolour with Nehru’s freedom speech playing in the background. And back in Berlin, Hitler had to bite the dust, and his few followers burn his body and then commit suicide themselves.
Director Rakesh Ranjan Kumar beautifully portrays Hitler’s relationship with his associates and about his insecurities and when he was plagued with betrayal all around him in those last days in Gandhi to Hitler. The Third Reich and Hitler failed as they did not believe in ahimsa (non-violence) but rather prefer to tread the path of liberal war crimes.
Cast of Gandhi to Hitler:
Raghuvir Yadav – Adolf Hitler
Neha Dhupia – Eva Braun
Aman Verma – Balbir Singh
Nasir Abdullah – Albert Speers
Avijit Dutt – Gandhi
Lucky Vakharia – Amrita
Nikita Anand – Magda Goebbels
Nalin Singh – Joseph Goebbles
Sumit Bharadwaj
Vikrant Vivek
Jatin Serna Shaqir
Munish Sharma Gopal
Arpit Himmat
Vikram Hamid
Bhupesh Kumar Pandya
Hanuman Prasad
Deepak Gulati
Shakti Kumar
Nitin Gupta
Rajnish Satija
Vivek Bharadwaj
Noor Quresh
Sanjeev Kumar Singh
Sanjay Bhatia
Akshay Thakur
Raman Deep Kaur
Karan Rajput
Malvika Satija
Sarnav Berry
Divya Jain
Naisha Arora
Deepshikha
Divya Vats
Abhishrut Rajhans
Credits & Crew of Gandhi to Hitler:
Producer -Dr.Anil Kumar Sharma
Screenplay & Direction – Rakesh Ranjan Kumar
Scripting and Research Team – Dr. Pallavi Mishra, Rakesh Ranjan Kumar, Mansi
Co Producer – Nalin Singh
Conceived & written by Nalin Singh
Editor – Shree Narayan Singh
Director of photography – Fuwad khan
Creative consultant – Imtiaz Ali
Background Score – Sanjoy Chowdhury
Lyrics – Dr.Pallavi Mishra
Music Directors – Arvind-Lyton, Aman-Benson, Sanjoy Chowdhury
Executive Producer – Devanand Nair
Supervising Producer – Kaustabh Chaudhary
Production designer – Soumitra Dasgupta
Associate Producer – Dr.Pallavi Mishra
Costume Designers – Lipika Singh, Preeti Singh, Deesha Thakkar
Chief Assistant Directors – Subodh Agrawal, Rohit Gaba
Assistant Directors – Ruchika Chaudhary, Niti Roshan Sharma, Kamal Malhotra
Make-up Designer – Pattanam Rasheed.
Sound Designer – Vaidy
Re-Recording Mixer – Anuj Mathur (YRF Studios)
Gandhi to Hitler – movie review