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{{Use Indian English|date=November 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2022}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Dear Friend Hitler
| image = Dear Friend Hitler film poster.jpg
| caption = Theatrical release poster
| director = [[Rakesh Ranjan Kumar]]<ref name="dearfriendhitlerthefilm">{{cite web|url=http://www.openindearfriendhitlerthefilm.com/g_credits.html |title=Opening Credits |publisher=dearfriendhitlerthefilm.com |access-date=17 April 2011 }}{{dead link|date=December 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
| producer = Dr. Parth
| writer =
| screenplay = [[Rakesh Ranjan Kumar]]
| story = Nalin Singh [[Rakesh Ranjan Kumar]]
| based_on = 
| starring = Nalin Singh [[Raghubir Yadav]] [[Neha Dhupia]] [[Aman Verma (actor)|Aman Verma]]<ref name="dearfriendhitlerthefilm" />
| music = Arvind-Lyton '''Background Score:''' [[Sanjoy Chowdhury]]
| cinematography = Fuwad Khan
| editing = Shri Narayan Singh
| studio =
| distributor = Amrapali Media Vision Pvt. Ltd.
| released = {{Film date|df=yes|2011|7|29|}}<ref name="indiatimes1">{{cite news|url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-07-04/bollywood/29735049_1_dear-friend-hitler-dear-friend-hitler-cannes-film-festival |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120908043926/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-07-04/bollywood/29735049_1_dear-friend-hitler-dear-friend-hitler-cannes-film-festival |url-status=dead |archive-date=8 September 2012 |title=Gandhi to Hitler / Dear Friend Hitler |work=[[The Times of India]] |publisher=[[The Times Group]]|date= 4 July 2011|access-date=2 August 2022}}</ref>
| runtime =
| country = India
| language = Hindi
| budget =
| gross =
}}

'''''Dear Friend Hitler''''', released in India as '''''Gandhi to Hitler''''',<ref name="indiatimes1" /> is a 2011 Indian [[war film|war]] [[drama film]] based on letters written by [[Mohandas Gandhi|Mahatma Gandhi]] to the leader of the [[Nazi Party]] and [[Chancellor of Germany#Chancellor of the Third Reich (1933–1945)|Chancellor of Germany]] and [[Nazi Germany|Nazi German]] [[dictator]] [[Adolf Hitler]]. The film, starring [[Raghubir Yadav]] as Adolf Hitler and [[Neha Dhupia]] as [[Eva Braun]], was directed by [[Rakesh Ranjan Kumar]] and produced by Anil Kumar Sharma under the production house Amrapali media vision. It was screened at the [[61st Berlin International Film Festival]] where it received negative reviews.<ref name="banglanews24">{{cite web|url=http://www.banglanews24.com/English/detailsnews.php?nssl=314ae9d82ce2688ee2a7e911e1760c4b&nttl=2011030816260 |title=Berlin cleared misconceptions about 'My Friend Hitler': Scriptwriter |access-date=18 March 2011 |author=Entertainment Desk |date=5 March 2011 |publisher=Banglanews24 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120316024121/http://www.banglanews24.com/English/detailsnews.php?nssl=314ae9d82ce2688ee2a7e911e1760c4b&nttl=2011030816260 |archive-date=16 March 2012 |df=dmy }}</ref><ref name="toi">{{cite news | url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-02-22/news-interviews/28624655_1_dear-friend-hitler-adolf-hitler-berlin-film-festival | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120405211557/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-02-22/news-interviews/28624655_1_dear-friend-hitler-adolf-hitler-berlin-film-festival | url-status=dead | archive-date=5 April 2012 | title=Hitler goes to Berlin | access-date=18 March 2011 | author=Times News Network| date=22 February 2011|work=[[The Times of India]] |publisher=[[The Times Group]]}}</ref> ''Film Business Asia'' quoted that "despite the provocative title, the film is not a tribute to the murderous [[Führer]]".<ref name="filmbiz.asia">{{cite web | url=http://www.filmbiz.asia/news/indian-hitler-film-gets-berlin-launch | title=Indian Hitler film gets Berlin launch | access-date=24 March 2011 | date=24 March 2022}}</ref> It premiered in India on 29 July 2011.

==Plot==
The film is set during [[World War II]] and centres upon the letters written by Gandhi (Avijit Dutt) to Adolf Hitler (Raghubir Yadav), and around the relationship of Hitler with his long-term lover Eva Braun (Neha Dhupia), whom he married in his final days in the [[Führerbunker|Berlin bunker]] in which they died. The film depicts the difference between the ideologies of Gandhi and Hitler and claims the superiority of [[Gandhism]] over [[Nazism]].

==Cast==
* [[Raghubir Yadav]] as [[Adolf Hitler]]
* [[Neha Dhupia]] as [[Eva Braun]]
* Nalin Singh as [[Joseph Goebbels]]
* Nasir Abdullah as [[Albert Speer]]
* [[Jatin Sarna]] as Shaqir
* Lucky Vakharia as Amrita Kaur
* [[Nikita Anand]] as [[Magda Goebbels]]
* Bhupesh Kumar Pandey as [[Subhas Chandra Bose]]
* [[Avijit Dutt]] as [[Mahatma Gandhi]]
* Hanuman Prasad Rai as [[Otto Günsche]]

==Production==
[[Anupam Kher]] had originally agreed to play the role of Hitler, but he backed out after Jewish organisations in India condemned him for playing the part because of Hitler's [[The Holocaust|massacre of millions of Jews]].<ref name="bollywoodhungama">{{cite web | url=http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/news/2010/06/19/14269/index.html | title=Anupam Kher bows out from Dear Friend Hitler | access-date=18 March 2011 | date=19 June 2010 | author=Bollywood Hungama News Network | publisher=[[Bollywood Hungama]]}}</ref><ref name="Indianexpress">{{cite news | url=http://www.indianexpress.com/news/anupam-khers-backout-hurt-neha-dhupia/758980/ | title=Anupam Kher's backout hurt Neha Dhupia | access-date=19 March 2011 | date=7 March 2011 | author=Indian Express Agencies |work=[[Indian Express]]|publisher=[[Indian Express Limited]]}}</ref> The filmmakers accused Kher of not returning the {{INR}}4 [[lakh]] (400,000 rupees) he had been paid after signing the contract and consequently sued him for {{INR}}2.5 [[crore]] (25 million rupees).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.indiantelevision.com/aac/y2k11/aac770.php|title=Anupam Kher|date=21 July 2022}}</ref> However, Kher perceived it as a way of filmmakers to promote their film before the release.<ref name="ht">{{cite news|url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/Gandhi-To-Hitler-filmmakers-to-sue-Anupam-Kher/H1-Article1-723738.aspx |title=Gandhi To Hitler filmmakers to sue Anupam Kher |work=[[The Hindustan Times]] |publisher=[[HT Media]] |date=21 July 2011 |access-date=24 July 2011 |location=New Delhi |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722234854/http://www.hindustantimes.com/Gandhi-To-Hitler-filmmakers-to-sue-Anupam-Kher/H1-Article1-723738.aspx |archive-date=22 July 2011 |df=dmy }}</ref> It is the only mainstream Bollywood film to refer to the [[Indian Legion]], a [[Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts|Waffen-SS]] unit recruited from Indian volunteers.

==Criticism and controversies==

British newspaper, ''[[The Guardian]]'', declared the film to be profoundly misguided and to show a shocking ignorance of history. Noah Massil, president of the Central Organization of Indian Jews in Israel (COIJI) stated that "he would write to [[President of India|President]] [[Pratibha Patil]] and [[Prime Minister of India|Prime Minister]] [[Manmohan Singh]] to intervene in order to prevent bringing disrepute to our entertainment industry", but the filmmakers claimed that the film does not glorify Hitler, but rather juxtaposes him against Gandhi's ideology of peace.<ref name="guardian">{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2010/jun/11/bollywood-film-hitler | title=Why Bollywood's film about Hitler is profoundly misguided | work=[[The Guardian]] | date=2010-06-11 | access-date=17 April 2011 | author=Tunzelmann, Alex von | location=[[London]]}}</ref><ref name="worldjewishcongress">{{cite news | url=http://www.worldjewishcongress.org/en/news/9396/planned_bollywood_movie_dear_friend_hitler_angers_indian_jews | title=Planned Bollywood movie 'Dear Friend Hitler' angers Indian Jews | work=[[World Jewish Congress]] | date=16 June 2010| access-date=17 April 2011 | location=[[New York City|New York]]}}</ref>

{{blockquote|We clarified that the movie is not about Hitler's ideology, but how his ideology of violence conflicts with Gandhi's ideology of peace. There is no glorification of Hitler's character.|Anil Kumar Sharma|''[[The Times of India]]''<ref name="toi" />}}

==Reception==
The film was met with negative reviews. ''[[The Times of India]]'' gave the film 2 stars out of 5, calling it an "unnecessary play with history".<ref>{{cite news| url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/movie-reviews/hindi/Gandhi-to-Hitler/movie-review/9397125.cms | work=[[The Times of India]] | title=Gandhi to Hitler}}{{rating|2|5}}</ref> The ''[[Daily News and Analysis]]'' gave the movie one star.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dnaindia.com/entertainment/review_review-gandhi-to-hitler-is-an-assault-on-senses-and-cinema_1570795 |title=Review: Gandhi to Hitler is an assault on senses and cinema |work=[[Daily News and Analysis]] |date= 29 July 2011|access-date=13 July 2022}}{{rating|1|5}}</ref> [[NDTV]] criticised the movie for using Indian actors to play all non-Indian characters, using India itself as a stand-in to Europe, and for its "strands".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://movies.ndtv.com/movie_Review.aspx?id=639 |title=Gandhi to Hitler |publisher=[[NDTV]] |date=29 July 2011 |access-date=13 July 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121130055738/http://movies.ndtv.com/movie_Review.aspx?id=639 |archive-date=30 November 2012 |df=dmy }}</ref> [[Koimoi]] gave the film 0.5/5; although it praised Yadav's performance as Hitler, it criticised the film's script, direction, technical values, soundtrack, and the performance from other actors.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.koimoi.com/reviews/gandhi-to-hitler-review/ |title=Gandhi To Hitler Review |publisher=[[Koimoi]] |date= 29 July 2011|access-date=13 July 2022}}{{rating|0.5|5}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of artistic depictions of Mahatma Gandhi]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
* {{Official website|http://www.dearfriendhitlerthefilm.com}}
* {{IMDb title|1980970}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:2011 films]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Adolf Hitler]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Eva Braun]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Joseph Goebbels]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Albert Speer]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Mahatma Gandhi]]
[[Category:Films about Mahatma Gandhi]]
[[Category:Indian war drama films]]
[[Category:Films set in the 1940s]]
[[Category:Films set in Berlin]]
[[Category:Films about the German Resistance]]
[[Category:Films set in the British Empire]]
[[Category:World War II films based on actual events]]
[[Category:2011 war drama films]]
[[Category:Azad Hind]]
[[Category:Films scored by Sanjoy Chowdhury]]
[[Category:2011 drama films]]
[[Category:Films about Adolf Hitler]]
[[Category:Film controversies]]
[[Category:Film controversies in India]]

Dear Friend Hitler - Revision history

Delinker at 13:41, 31 July 2023