The Forgotten Army - Azaadi Ke Liye(2020)

6.5 /10

Director: Kabir Khan

Star Cast: Sunny Kaushal, Sharvari Wagh, Rohit Chaudhary, Tj Bhanu, M.K. Raina, Karanvir Malhotra, Shruti Seth

No. of Episodes: 5

Amazon Prime's Mini-Series The Forgotten Army is an untold Story of Captain Sodhi and his fellow soldiers of the Indian National Army a.k.a  Azad Hind Fauj and their role in the Indian Freedom Struggle. The story is set in two time frames, first in 1942-45(when INA was established) and second in 1996 (present time).

In 1942 during the Second World War, British-controlled Singapore fell to the Japanese. The British Indian Army consisting of Britishers, Australians and Indian soldiers surrenders to the Imperial Japanese Army. Japanese supported the Indian Freedom movement and INA was established by Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. With 'Chalo Dilli' as their war cry, the soldiers march towards India to free their country from British Rule. This is the plot of the series.

Series reveal many unknown historical facts. It tells us about the formation of the world's first women's army regiment "Rani of Jhansi Women Regiment" but it is disappointing that it undermines its own point by never actually showing women in combat.

The war cries are inspiring. The costumes, guns and sets design seems pretty accurate and authentic to the time period. The cinematography is fabulous.

The writing is weak. Dialogues are a little overdramatic. It spends most of the time in dramatic and unnatural conversations and an unnecessary typical Bollywood-type love story. Even Netaji is shown once in the whole series. Arijit Singh's theme song "Azadi Ke Liye" is used so often that it becomes intolerable after some time. The present-time events are interesting but fail to satisfy the viewers as the story unfolds. The action sequences are well-executed but the poor CGI diminishes its effects.

As the series is having time constraints, the character development is very much limited. Sunny Singh carries the entire show on his shoulders. Rohit Chaudhary as Sodhi's friend Arshad is funny. Sharvari Wagh as Maya is also good. It's the splendid performances of these actors that keep you invested in the show despite the flaws.

If we ignore the love angle for some time, Creator-Director Kabir Khan (Bajrangi Bhaijaan; Ek Tha Tiger) succeeds in telling the story of the Azad Hind Fauj with precision and accuracy. The series sometimes derails from its track but overall tries to give genuine insights. It's a brave attempt with noble intentions to give due credit and respect to an army of Bravehearts. Overall Amazon Prime's The Forgotten Army isn't exceptional but still, you can give it a try as it doesn't demand too much time and gives a glimpse of our History.


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