Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was a freedom fighter who, despite his ideological differences with Mahatma Gandhi, gathered up an army to fight for the country's independence. But 72 years since his mysterious disappearance or apparent death, the country now only remembers him as the man whose death opens a pandora's box of conspiracy theories. Was he even in that plane that crashed in Formosa in 1945? Or did he miraculously escape? These are the questions that form the premise of AltBalaji's web series, Bose: Dead Based on Anuj Dhar's book, The Biggest Cover-Up, the show begins with the plane crash that eventually became the most intriguing mystery in modern Indian history. Rajkummar Rao, playing Bose, is introduced as the fearless college student who does not care about consequences when he hits his professor because he believes he has the 'azaadi' to do so. His heroic appearance is maintained throughout the nine episodes and while that is a treat for Rao's fans, it starts bordering on the hero-worship zone, which plagues the biopic genre in Indian content. Rao plays Bose as the man who is aware of his impact and greatness and is happy to utilise his following for the greater good. His portrayal borders on arrogance but with a sense of honesty and that adds to Bose's larger than life persona. Rao is a stellar performer and no amount of superlatives can actually describe the aura that he creates on screen and while that makes this show credible and engaging, it is the supporting cast that lets him down. Darbari, played by Naveen Kasturia, is a police constable in the British police and also acts as the narrator of this series. Darbari has been following Bose's journey since his student days and while his job asks him to defy the unabashed freedom fighter, it is his character arc that turns him into a middle-aged man who is secretly in awe of Bose's ways. The scenes featuring both these actors bring a certain amount of wit but Naveen's voice over that binds the series does not impress much. Patralekha appears in a few scenes and her on-screen persona is sparkly enough to leave the audience asking for more. The British officers seem like caricatures and the other supporting characters don't hold one's attention. In terms of story, there is hardly anything that isn't out there about Bose but such is the case with most celebrated figures. Bravely enough, they do hint at the political rivalry between Bose and Nehru and those scenes are smartly played. A hint at who would have been the Prime Minister if Bose was alive is a stand-out moment for the show. Bose is presented as the man who is not afraid to sell khadi to royalty or get khakee uniforms stitched right under the ogling eyes of the British Raj. His rigid stance with his philosophy does not progress and after a while you start noticing that it is only because of Rao's performance that you are hooked on the show. The character of Bose isn't brilliantly written and that realisation becomes bothersome after Naveen's Darbari can be seen progressing as a character but not Bose's. The dialogues by Reshu Nath are dramatic but memorable nevertheless. The show moves forth in two timelines. While one chronicles Netaji's journey from a rebellious student to a popular leader, the other explores the paranoia that was widespread speculating Bose's staged death. The web series does not present itself as a boring history lesson but tries to make it an engaging tale and their biggest crutch for the same is the over-enthusiastic background music. Hansal Mehta, who has collaborated on some award-winning projects with Rajkummar Rao, serves as the creative producer on the show which is directed by Pulkit. The web space is still quite new for Indian content but Bose does a good job at ticking a lot of boxes. With cliffhangers at the end of every episode, the show becomes binge-worthy. The production value is quite impressive but it faintly reminds of the TV show, Stories by Rabindranath Tagore. After a marathon of these 9 episodes, one is left feeling that this show might not be the best thing we ever saw about Netaji but it certainly adds another feather to Rajkummar Rao's meritorious hat. They could have done much more in trying to explore the conspiracy theory but what they gave us at least promises that the future for web series in India isn't a bleak one.
