Prabhas’ ‘Fauzi’ controversy: Netaji’s family wants teaser pulled

Dubai: Prabhas’ upcoming period action film Fauzi has sparked controversy over its portrayal of freedom fighter Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, with his grandnephew demanding that the teaser be withdrawn and director Hanu Raghavapudi issue a public apology.

Chandra Kumar Bose has accused the filmmakers of distorting history through a dramatized conversation between Netaji and Adolf Hitler, in which the freedom fighter introduces Prabhas’ fictional character as an Indian spy and strategist who undermined British intelligence.

“Mixing fiction with history is a crime,” Chandra Kumar Bose wrote on X on October 26, calling on the director, the production team, and the film’s star to portray historical figures accurately. He also urged the makers to release a revised teaser.

The controversy follows the release of the Fauzi teaser on October 23, coinciding with Prabhas’ 47th birthday. The video opens with a dramatized depiction of Netaji meeting Hitler in Berlin during the Second World War, then introduces the film’s fictional protagonist.

The teaser is set in Berlin on May 29, 1942, and depicts Netaji discussing an Indian operative who allegedly disrupted British intelligence operations. Prabhas plays the character, described as a soldier, strategist, and spy whose secret code, inspired by the Bhagavad Gita, is presented as harder to crack than Germany’s Enigma code.

While Netaji’s meeting with Hitler did take place, the conversation about Prabhas’ character is fictional. This blending of a documented historical encounter with an invented protagonist has prompted objections.

The film is set against the backdrop of India’s struggle for independence and presents Prabhas as a fictional Indian soldier and spy operating under Netaji.

Speaking to IANS, Chandra Kumar Bose said filmmakers were free to depict India’s freedom struggle and its leaders, but creative freedom should not come at the expense of historical accuracy.

He maintained that Netaji approached Hitler with a strategic objective: securing assistance for India’s independence movement. Bose also stressed that Netaji opposed fascism and believed in democracy and people’s rights.

According to Bose, the teaser’s portrayal fails to reflect the meeting's historical context and diminishes Netaji’s stature. He called on the director to apologize to the people of India and those who value the country’s freedom struggle.

The controversy has also fuelled debate on social media, with some viewers questioning the use of a revered historical figure to build up a fictional film hero, while others argue that filmmakers should be allowed creative freedom in historical fiction.

Written and directed by Hanu Raghavapudi, known for Sita Ramam, Fauzi is produced by Mythri Movie Makers and presented by T-Series Films.

The film is scheduled for a worldwide theatrical release on March 19, 2027, after its earlier December 2026 release window was changed.

The film’s makers had not issued an official response to Chandra Kumar Bose’s demand to withdraw the teaser as of the latest reports.