• Wednesday 28 July 2010
• posted by Sophie Hines
• Comments

Brace yourselves people - an all-singing, all-dancing Hitler is on his way. 

Yes, those folks over in Bollywood were clearly short of material for a new film (strange given that they've managed to keep going with the same plot for decades now), and have turned to the world's most hated dictator for inspiration. The worryingly-named  'Dear Friend Hitler' will explore the Nazi leader's love life with Eva Braun, the woman he married fifteen hours before their suicide in 1945. It will also recreate his 'relationships with his close associates', opening up all kinds of scary possibilities (a lip-synching Goebbels? a frantically gyrating Goering?)

Unfortunately for director Rakesh Ranjam Kumar news of the film has caused quite a stir both in India and abroad, not least because of his controversial plans to show 'Hitler's love for India' (yes, that's the same Hitler who urged the British Empire to 'Kill Gandhi' in 1938). This has led veteran Bollywood actor Anupam Kher, who had the dubious honour of been chosen for his apparent resmeblance to Hitler, to pull out of the role. However the former Miss India turned rom-com actress, Neha Dhupia, is still on board to play Eva Braun. 

'Dear Friend Hitler' is not the first example of India's somewhat disturbing fascination with the former German dictator. Hitler's colossal book, 'Mein Kampf', is popular in India as a management guide for students who regard him as an inspirational figure, and can be bought at many train stations and bookshops. Stranger still, a Nazi-themed cafe called 'Hitler's Cross' was opened in Mumbai in 2006. When Bollywood actor Murli Sharma, who was attending the launch party, was asked if he found the name troubling, he told reporters 'from what I know about Hitler, I find this name rather amusing'. And people think the Germans have a strange sense of humour...