Original subtitles

Maya!

Maya!

Maya!

Who are these people, sir?

They are wearing our uniform. And they even look like us.

They are deserters.

-Deserters? -Yeah.

They joined hands with the Japanese.

Why?

These dumb fools thought that they were going to free India.

By rebelling against their own army. Bloody idiots!

So, how many soldiers do you think they must have recruited?

I heard around 50,000.

Fifty thousand?

What's going to happen to them?

What do you think?

They will pay the price for treason. They will be put to death.

THE FORGOTTEN ARMY

AZAADI KE LIYE

While the powerful nations of the world were busy fighting World War II,

India was fighting her own battle to be free from British colonial rule.

At the time, the British Empire was still at the height of its power.

And amongst the many colonies were India, Burma and Singapore.

The largest volunteer army to serve in the Second World War

was the British Indian Army.

Millions of Indian soldiers were sent all over the world to fight under the British.

Yeah, flight's just landed.

I don't know, I've never seen him before, but Granny's very sentimental about him.

Ever since he moved here from Australia, she's been asking him to visit us.

Uncle Sodhi!

Apparently, he's a black sheep of their family.

Uncle! Uncle Sodhi!

Yeah, and I have to give up my room for him. It's unbelievable.

Uncle. Amar.

He's here.

Uncle!

I'm Amar.

Subhash's son. He's there.

I'll take it for you.

Please come, Uncle. Follow me.

I hope you're not too tired, Uncle.

Amar, do you know, Uncle had suggested this name for me.

What?

I'm trying to share something with you. It was Uncle who named me Subhash.

It's a very good name, but it doesn't matter.

Everyone calls him Bubble. The name just stuck to him.

-Onwards to Delhi! -Onwards to Delhi!

-Onwards to Delhi! -Onwards to Delhi!

-Onwards to Delhi! -Onwards to Delhi!

-Onwards to Delhi! -Onwards to Delhi!

By the way, Uncle, I should prepare you.

Sometimes, your sister is...

conscious and very alert, but sometimes she is just...

Which room am I staying in?

It's right here, Uncle.

Uncle...

Sorry, this is Amar's room. I'm afraid it's always messy.

Look, Amar.

Granny is on her deathbed, okay? You can't do this to me right now.

And she'll be the first person to tell you that I should go.

Because even though she is dying,

she knows a lot more about living than you do.

This is crazy! You want to go to Burma in the middle of a war?

It's just a protest and they are student protesters, Papa.

Regular guys, and they're trying to do something important.

Yeah. I know that Mia is Burmese, okay. But she's your ex.

You know this is not about her!

And I can't even go into my room!

In the middle of this mess, you've got the family weirdo here.

Uncle, is everything okay?

Yeah. I'm just going for a walk.

For a walk?

Where will you go? Do you know your way around here? Shall I come along?

I'm not going to Burma. I'm just going for a walk.

What?

What... What are you doing?

Let's go.

What do you mean, "Let's go"? You're gonna ride this?

-Yeah. -You can ride a bike?

Yeah.

Tell me one thing, why are you so keen on going to Burma?

Do you know what's happening in Burma?

Thousands of students are protesting on the streets.

For democracy. It's history in the making.

Why do you care?

How can I not? I am a student of journalism.

Actually, the BBC is organizing an International Photo Essay Competition

and the winner of the competition

will get a one-year internship opportunity with BBC UK.

Uncle, I...

About this morning, I'm--

It's okay.

I'm proud of that.

Of what?

Of being the family weirdo.

"This is a war and I could even end up being a martyr.

"I'm a soldier, and if I die in war, it'll be a matter of pride for my father.

"While pretending to be a soldier, I've managed to become an officer,

"but I suspect I will always remain the reluctant soldier.

"Urmi, Singapore is an amazing city!

"The markets, the hustle-bustle, the sea.

"I think even London isn't as beautiful as this place.

"That's why the British call it--

"The Pearl of the Orient.

"You must come here after the war, I'll take you around the city.

"With lots of love, Surinder."

I must have read this letter a thousand times.

But you just disappeared after that.

Forget about Singapore, I never saw you again.

But I'm here now, aren't I? Stop being dramatic.

Should I keep silent like you?

It's high time you start talking.

How long will you keep suffocating inside?

You must try and let go of what happened here.

Listen, Mom, don't exert yourself.

Uncle isn't going anywhere. You can talk to him later.

I called him here for a reason.

Singapore.

Shonan.

Step back!

The Japanese had renamed Singapore as Shonan.

During World War II.

Ask him about it.

You have to tell me about yourself.

Now that I know that you've been to Singapore before.

Tell me something about that era.

What was Singapore like then?

Give us some family history. Right, papa?

History?

You know, not all history is worth remembering.

Some chapters are best forgotten.

How's that possible?

It's ok if you don't want to talk about it

but I don't really think you believe that.

Do you know about the Battle of Singapore?

World War II?

The Japanese had attacked Singapore.

Because Singapore was a prized possession of the British.

The British lost miserably in that battle.

And who were those British?

Okra.

It's Mom's recipe. I tried to make it.

So, who were they? Who were in the British Army?

We were.

We were the British Army.

This is before we got our independence.

We, the Indian soldiers, were a part of the British Army

and our loyalties were... with the British.

Around 2.5 million Indians fought for the British in the Second World War.

Two and a half million?

We weren't taught any of this.

Because, our history and yours has been written by the British.

I've heard that there's a memorial in England

honoring the animals who were part of the British Army in the Second World War.

They remember the contribution of the animals,

but not that of the Indian soldiers.

This is history for you.

Uncle, you must come with me.

I'll go get ready.

But where?

INA Memorial.

"Indian National Army.

"In the final months of the Japanese occupation of Singapore,

"a memorial dedicated to the 'Unknown Warrior'

"of the Indian National Army was constructed at this site.

"The local INA was formed in 1942 with Japanese support.

"It sought to liberate India from the British

"and consisted mainly of prisoners-of-war from the British Indian Army.

"Subhas Chandra Bose, who led the INA from 1943 onwards,

"laid the foundation stone for a memorial in July, 1945."

My unit had been sent to Singapore, along with British and Australian units.

The Japanese had their eyes on Singapore and we had to stop them.

That day, we were summoned to the headquarters.

Intensity of the air raids is increasing,

which suggests a naval attack is imminent on our northeastern front.

We are prepared to give the enemy a warm welcome.

The northwestern front is under the Australian 8th Division

and the 44th Indian Brigade.

Things should be much quieter that side.

Please don't do it.

Yes?

Sir, what if the enemy does not take the sea route to Singapore?

May I remind you, Lieutenant, that Singapore is an island.

Yes, sir, but, as you can see up in the north,

facing the jungles of Malaya, there is a--

Don't waste my time with stupid questions, Lieutenant.

Any other pearls of wisdom or can I continue?

As I was saying, we're expecting the bulk of activity to be on this side.

So we need to beef up our forces on the eastern flank

in anticipation of a Japanese sea attack.

Bloody bastards.

Look, everyone except you knows

that these Japanese fuckers are going to take the sea route.

No one's going to attack us. Except these mosquitoes.

Arshad, these Japanese cannot be trusted.

Look at what just happened at Pearl Harbor.

Just like us, Americans also thought that it's too far,

the Japanese can't get there, but they did.

He's right, sir.

Bullshit he's right!

Look there, rubber plantation.

Miles and miles of rubber, and only rubber.

Even a small car can't get through, forget a truck.

It's impossible for them to come this way.

And if they do?

They cannot, Sodhi, I'm telling you.

Arshad, if we're so damn sure of this, then why the fuck are we rotting here

and that too with these Australians? What will we do here?

Hey, catch it, mate!

I have an idea.

What a fucking embarrassment!

Fucking bullshit!

Hey, asshole!

Why did you insist on batting first

if you were going to get out on zero?

Sonny boy, I wasn't the cricket captain of an English medium school.

I played with sticks and stones in the alleys of Itawa.

You are the Englishman amongst us. Go on, show us.

Go for it!

Next time you'll come home on your own, sweet girl.

Run, run! Go for two runs, two runs, two runs!

Come on, come on, go for it!

Oh, fucking hell! The Japanese!

Run!

We are being attacked! Get the weapons!

-Let's go! -Hurry up!

Battle station!

Spread out!

Take cover in the trees and run!

Guards!

Get down!

Fire!

Get down!

More!

More cannons!

Fall back! Fall back!

The battle raged on for a whole week.

A whole week?

At first, we held our ground.

But then the Japanese... they came from every direction.

But Winston Churchill had deemed Battle of Singapore as the--

"Worst disaster in British military history."

"There must, at this stage, be no thought of

"sparing the troops or saving the population.

"The battle must be fought to the bitter end, at all costs.

"The honor of the British Empire and of the British Army is at stake.

"Signed, Prime Minister, Winston Churchill."

"Worst disaster in British military history."

Arshad!

You push the bastards out of here. I'll attack them from the hilltop.

Charge!

Get the fuck out of there!

Information can also be a weapon in war.

We didn't know that the enemy only had 30,000 soldiers.

While we, the Indians, British, Australian were 90,000 strong.

The Japanese General Yamashita was aware of the strength of our army.

But British General Percival didn't know the strength of the Japanese.

We are running out of food and ammunition.

And if we need to counter-attack,

we have to get to our food depots and water supplies.

Our army is about to run out of arms and ammunition.

If we stop shell-firing even once, England will counter-attack.

If that happens, we will be on the back foot.

Sir, with constant artillery shelling and air raids, we cannot counter-attack.

Charge!

We are attacking Singapore with our back to the wall.

We cannot allow England to thwart the attack.

Without an immediate counter-attack,

we have no options.

We might have to...

surrender.

Negotiate a ceasefire with England.

Otherwise, we may have to

retreat.

So both the generals met at a rundown Ford factory to sign the treaty.

It was about who blinked first.

We...

We surrender unconditionally.

They said they would surrender.

And for once, the mighty British Empire did.

Get down!

Now! Charge!

Stand down!

Sir. Call for Sodhi, sir.

But, sir...

But, sir, we are holding our position. Over.

Roger that, sir. Over.

General Percival has surrendered.

What the hell are you saying?

We have orders to lay down our weapons.

What is wrong with you? Have you lost your marbles?

General Percival has surrendered unconditionally.

Our orders are to surrender.

Put your arms down!

Thirty-thousand Japanese took our army of 90,000 soldiers as prisoners.

Don't fuckin' touch me!

You!

What are you watching?

Look down. Look down.

Arshad, look down. Look down. Don't look up, Arshad.

Shoot him.