Two letters written by Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi to German dictator Adolf Hitler addressing him as 'Dear Friend' during the latter's ambitious eastern Europe push is subject of a film that hits the theatres this weekend.

The film 'Gandhi to Hitler' stars Raghuveer Yadav as the diminutive German dictator, Neha Dhupia as his love interest Eva Braun and Avijit Dutt as Mahatma Gandhi.

The film takes a parallel look at two socio-political set ups - the last days of Hitler when only his trusted comrades Eva and Joseph Goebbels stood by him through the upheavals in Germany and India's desperate bid for freedom and the individual choices of a young couple.

Although the enemy was common, the diametrically opposite ideologies adopted by both the leaders prompted Gandhi to write to Hitler to dissuade him from a bloody campaign against humanity.

The first letter was written on July 23, 1939 before the invasion of Poland and the start of World War II, while the second was written on Christmas eve in 1940.

Addressing him as 'Dear Friend', Gandhi wrote "Must you pay that price for an object however worthy it may appear to you to be? Will you listen to the appeal of one who has deliberately shunned the method of war not without considerable success?"

Directed by Rakesh Ranjan Kumar, the film was screened in Berlin in February and at the Cannes film festival in May.

"In non-violent technique, as I have said, there is no such thing as defeat. It is all 'do or die' without killing or hurting. It can be used practically without money and obviously without the aid of science of destruction which you have brought to such perfection," Gandhi wrote in his second letter.

He emphasizes the need to bring the British empire to its heels without resorting to violence. Yadav, a noted character actor who started his career in television, is back in the new role while Dutt starred in Deepa Mehta's 'Fire'.

Courtesy: http://ibnlive.in.com/news/new-film-on-gandhis-dear-friend-hitler-letters/170502-8-66.html

 

Gandhi's letter to Adolf Hitler, July 23, 1939    |    Gandhi's letter to Adolf Hitler, December 24, 1940

 

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