Chandra Kumar Bose, the grandnephew of freedom fighter Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, has accused the makers of the Prabhas-starrer Fauzi of distorting historical facts about Netaji’s meeting with Adolf Hitler and has demanded a public apology from director Hanu Raghavapudi. He has also called for the film’s teaser to be taken down and replaced with one that does not misrepresent history.

The controversy erupted within days of the Fauzi teaser being released on October 23, Prabhas’ 47th birthday. The teaser opens with a dramatised version of the historically documented 1942 meeting between Netaji and Hitler in Berlin, during which Netaji introduces Prabhas’ fictional character to the German leader as a spy, soldier and strategist who crippled British intelligence. It is this framing, in which a real historical figure is used to build the mythology of a fictional one, that has drawn the sharpest criticism.

On Monday, Chandra Kumar Bose posted on X demanding the teaser be pulled.…