Did you know that there are INA (Indian National Army) war veterans in Malaysia who fought for India? If you too are caught by surprise, this 30-minute documentary, At the Altar of India's Freedom, may provide the answers to your questions. The film is directed by Choodie Shivaram, a freelance journalist who writes for English and Kannada dailies.
The concept, script, research and direction is by Choodie. She shared the story of how this documentary came into being with MetroPlus .
“It all started when I was researching Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. That was when I discovered that many Malaysians fought for India and there were quite a few war veterans, which also included women. I started interviewing them and documenting their experience of being part of World War II,” says Choodie, who adds that most of them joined Netaji’s army as teenagers. There were young women, who just dropped their ladles and took up guns to fight for us. “What was more interesting was that none of them had ever visited India.”
Choodie, then, adds, that most of these war veterans were trained by the Japanese army, which was supported by Netaji. “And, also the Arrakkal sector of World War II. Most of these women too were in the forefront of the war. The reason for me to make this documentary is that many Indians are not aware of these veterans, who sacrificed (so much) for our country.”
Then she explains how the film follows the story of a young mother who left behind two children, aged six and eight, for the war and died.
Ask her what motivated them to fight for India? She says, “They are all second-generation Indians, who were taken as plantation workers by the British from here to Malaysia. They have lived there for years and were under the British rule, which one of the veterans talks about in the film. They suffered atrocities under the Britishers and saw Netaji as their leader. He went there as a friend of the Japanese. Hence many of them joined the Indian National Army (INA) and trained to fight for India.”
The other challenge for Choodie was to find someone to finance her film.
“It was a struggle of one year to find someone to produce my film and finally the Indian High Commission in Malaysia came forward. They have the copyright. I have been travelling with the film since its launch in 2018,” beams a happy Choodie, who says the film is not just about war veterans, but also about women who can fight. It talks about their empowerment, she adds.
The film has been screened at BIFFES-2018 (Bangalore International Film Festival) and at various institutions and Rotary clubs.
The film will be screened at the ongoing 50th edition of the International Film Festival of India in Goa.
