Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose or actor Prosenjit Chatterjee Who played him? Row over the portrait of Rashtrapati Bhawan

Calcutta:

A portrait of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose presented by the president in Rashtrapati Bhavan is that of an actor who portrayed him in a biopic, claimed social media posts that were discredited today by government sources.

President Ram Nath Kovind unveiled Netaji’s portrait on Saturday to mark the anniversary of his birth, named “Parakram Diwas” by the Center. A post on his timeline went viral with many users claiming that the portrait was actually one of Prosenjit Chatterjee, who played Netaji in the 2019 biopic “Gumnami.”

BJP sources have dismissed the accusation, stating that the photo was provided by Netaji’s family to the famous Padma Shri award-winning artist, Paresh Maity, who painted the portrait. “The photo looks nothing like Prosenjit. It’s an unnecessary controversy,” the sources said.

Chandra Kumar Bose, Netaji’s great-nephew and a member of the BJP, also posted what he said was the photo that was given for the portrait.

Portrait presented by the Honorable President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind ji @rashtrapatibhvn is based on #Netajioriginal photograph. It is an artist impression of #Netaji. https://t.co/chtZk1a9l2pic.twitter.com/MkQGEtFq5d

– Chandra Kumar Bose (@Chandrakbose) January 25, 2021

Among those who ridiculed the portrait was Trinamool Congress deputy Mahua Moitra, who tweeted: “After donating Rs 5 lakhs to the Ram temple, the president honors Netaji by revealing a portrait of Prasenjit, the actor who played him in the biopic God Save India (because this the government certainly cannot) “. You have now deleted the tweet.

Several posts on Twitter that made a similar claim have now been removed.

BJP’s head of social media, Amit Malviya, in charge of Bengal, posted a strong reply: “If neo Bengal experts have finished making a fool of themselves, outraged by the portrait of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, presented by the president of India, let me remind you that all your misplaced activism will not save Mamata Banerjee … “

President Kovind presents the portrait of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose at Rashtrapati Bhavan to mark the celebrations of the 125th anniversary of his birth. pic.twitter.com/Y3BnylwA8X

– President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) January 23, 2021

This is insanely fun. The portrait released by the President of India is of actor Prosenjit, who played the role of Netaji (Look into my eyes). That’s like presenting Ajay Devgan’s Portrait as Bhagat Singh https://t.co/voRxerFmoU

– Joy (@Joydas) January 25, 2021

Seriously???

– Amy Kazmin (@AmyKazmin) January 25, 2021

In his role as Netaji, Bengali movie star Prosenjit Chatterjee bears a striking resemblance to the renowned icon of freedom in the 2019 film and reportedly used prosthetics for his transformation. The credit for today’s debate therefore goes to her makeup artist, it was noted.

The following is the image on the basis of which Paresh Maity painted the picture of Rashtrapati Bhawan. For any similarity of Prosenjit’s appearance to this photo, credit goes to Somnath Kundu. #Gumnaami@prosenjitbumbapic.twitter.com/Lhy5FTzjtt

– Srijit Mukherji (@srijitspeaketh) January 25, 2021

His name is Somnath Kundu. He has been doing an exemplary job with ridiculously limited resources on films like Dhananjoy, Zulfiqar, Ek Je Chhilo Raja, Vinci Da & Agantuk. I should have gotten at least two national awards by now. It is unknown because it is of the wrong “wood”. https://t.co/ipAiqcYIXT

– Srijit Mukherji (@srijitspeaketh) January 25, 2021

The claim that his portrait appears as Netaji’s in Rashtrapati Bhavan inspired various memes and jokes on Twitter, with people calling for the unveiling of a portrait of Ben Kingsley as Mahatma Gandhi and Vivek Oberoi as Narendra Modi.

Finally, the actor himself tweeted, effectively closing the controversy.

I would like to congratulate Paresh Maity on the wonderful artwork in memory of our national hero Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. As an actor, I am glad that people think that the painting looks like my character in Gumnami, dir. by @srijitspeaketh and Somnath prosthesis pic.twitter.com/HBkXvwFFSw

– Prosenjit Chatterjee (@prosenjitbumba) January 25, 2021

This is the latest in the intense fight over Bengal’s icons in the bitter run up to the state elections in April-May.

Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, on the anniversary of Netaji’s birth on Saturday, refused to complete her speech after BJP supporters raised slogans of “Jai Sri Ram” at a mega event at the iconic Victoria Memorial. in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Even today, he accused the BJP, his main rival, of trying to appropriate Bengal’s legends and exploit them to attract voters.

Ms Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress has attacked the BJP for mistakes such as wrongly naming Shantiniketan as the birthplace of Rabindranath Tagore instead of Jorasanko in Kolkata and the flower tributes of the Union Interior Minister Amit Shah to a statue that was not that of tribal leader Birsa Munda.