Bengali actor Dev’s film ‘Bagha Jatin’, based on the legendary freedom fighter of the same name, has received much acclaim from audiences in regards to how it has handled its subject. Going behind-the-scenes, Dev was completely uncompromising in regards to both his capacity as an actor and producer.
Dev, talking about the portrayal said in Bangla: “The subject of 'Bagha Jatin' was something I was very personally involved in. He is a legend of Bengal and it was one of my toughest roles ever.”
He further mentioned: “But I was so deeply engrossed in the topic, I wanted to make it as authentic and true to history as I could. As such, my attempt on this was completely uncompromising, because this is a very heavy topic to handle, as well as something that I felt personally attached to.”
Actress Sudeepa Chakraborty, who portrayed Bagha Jatin’s elder sister Binodbala, said: “The subject was very heavy here, but more than that I when I was watching Dev and the entire crew work, and their dedication was amazing. When I work on a film, I fully concentrate on it and don’t think of anything else.”
“But I remember this part which was being shot in Odisha, and I was not a part of that scene. So I just focused on the shooting and how it was done, and it really amazed me. I mean it was shot so beautifully with so much detail and effort put into it, it was surreal," she added.
Dev, speaking of the shooting said: “The movie has a very grand canvas, so yeah the shoot was really brilliant, you know very beautiful to look at. We really worked hard on the costumes, the set design, and even tried our best to bring out the speaking and mannerisms of all the fighters on screen. There was no compromise here.”
Actress Sreeja Dutta, who portrays the wife of Bagha Jatin, Indubala Banerjee on-screen, said: “Dev is such a big star, and when I was on-set I was really nervous. Like I didn’t want to muck up anything so I was always thinking on how to do this scene or that scene, but working with Dev he made me so comfortable that I almost forgot just how big a star he actually is. It was a real treat, and I was glad to be part of this.”
Dev talking about the shooting said: “I wanted to make it as grand as I could, though still keep it rooted. ‘Bagha Jatin’ has been my most difficult role to date, not just as an actor but also as a producer. There were the action scenes which we decided to mostly keep practical. Creating the setting of 1905 authentically, all the sets, it is all CGI these days so it wasn’t that difficult, but still creating the overall set was difficult.”
He added: “There were certain scenes where I and a couple others suffered injury, but then I was just like ‘work through the pain’. The shooting could not stop, and we decided to just take the pain. I suffered bruises on my ankle, my elbow, there was a wound on my stomach.”
The real life Bagha Jatin was born in 1876 in the Nadia district of what was back then United Bengal and in present day is part of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh.
Jatindranath Mukherjee had received support from the German Crown Prince during World War I, who gave him a whole consignment of weapons and ammunition.
Motivated by a revolutionary mindset and striving to create an Independent India, and during the War, Bagha Jatin was targeting British lines to cut off their access points and ambushing them.
Though preparing to create a full armed revolution through his dacoit activities, Bagha Jatin and his team’s conspiracy was leaked out to British intelligence who blocked the exit points from Noakhali and Chittagong to block their escape to Odisha or Assam.
In the forests of Mayurbhanj in Odisha, a 75-minute gun battle ensued on October 9, 1915 which killed several British Indian police officers as well as one of Bagha’s associates. Himself mortally wounded, Bhaga Jatin died of his wounds on October 10, 1915.
‘Bagha Jatin’ brings to the big screen yet another one of the several hundred untold stories of various freedom fighters from different regions of India, who today find little mention in history books.
The movie stars Dev, Sreeja Dutta, Sudipta Chakraborty, Samiul Alam, Sajal Mondal, Kallol D, Rohaan Bhattacharjee, Carl A. Harte, and Alexandra Taylor, and was released on October 19 in Bangla, and on October 20, 2023, in Hindi.
