Series / The Forgotten Army

"Challo Delli!"^note  means "Let's go to Delhi!" in Hindi.

The Forgotten Army - Azaadi Ke Liye is a television series that premiered on Amazon Prime Video. The series focuses on the true story of the Indian National Army, an army recruited from captured Indian soldiers and local Indian recruits by the Japanese after the Fall of Singapore during World War II.

The story focuses on Surinder Sodhi, a former Indian officer and his life in both the war between 1942 to 1944 and 1996. Initially visiting Singapore to visit his sister's family, he is reminded of the Battle of Singapore and the formation of the Indian National Army. After his nephew Amar decided to travel to Burma to film the anti-junta protests in hopes of finding employment in the BBC for his coverage, Sodhi chose to join him. When the junta nearly kills them and Arshad's contacts in Burma at a student demonstration, Sodhi guides them through the Burmese jungle in hopes of escaping to the Indian border.

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This show contains examples of:

• Action Girl: Maya, and of course the Rani of Jhansi Regiment.
• Amazon Brigade: The all-female Rani of Jhansi Regiment for the INA.
• All for Nothing: Subverted as the INA was unable to free India, but India became independent after World War II.
• The Captain: Of course, Captain Sodhi after joining the INA.
• Connected All Along: Rani, Amar's Burmese friend is the granddaughter of Maya as Sodhi disocvered in Maya's school in Burma.
• Cool Old Guy: Sodhi, despite his age is able to fight off Burmese soldiers clearly younger than him.
• Dead All Along: Rani, the granddaughter of Maya informs Sodhi that she died, dashing his hopes of reuniting with her.
• Destroythe Abusive Home: Rasammah burns down the home of her abusive plantation owner after he dies from a Japanese bullet after for sexual abuse.
• Ethnic Menial Labor: Singapore during British rule employed Indians and mistreated in plantations, with Rasammah starting as one before joining the INA.
• Fighting for a Homeland: The INA fighting for an India free from British rule.
• Foregone Conclusion: The Axis Powers lose World War II, making the INA's mission all for naught.
• Ghost Reunion Ending: After his death, Sodhi reunites with Maya and the rest of the INA who died during the war.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Arshad saves Sodhi's life by throwing a grenade into a Sherman Firefly, destroying it and killing him.
  • And Sodhi himself, holding off the advance of the Burmese military to allow Amar and his friends to escape to the Indian border.
• Historical Domain Character: Mohan Singh, Subhas Chandra Bose and Lakshmi Swaminathan are real officers for the INA.
  • Gandhi and Tojo are also mentioned by a Japanese soldier.
• Katanas of the Rising Sun: They capture Sodhi and other Indian soldiers and recruit them to the INA.
• Kipling's Finest: Sodhi was originally a lieutenant in the British Indian Army until the fall of Singapore to the Japanese.
• Hopeless Suitor: Sridhar, who Maya's parents want her to marry. Unfortunately for them, she loves Sodhi.
• Irony: Sodhi promises Maya to take her to the Red Fort in Delhi once India is liberated. He is later among the INA soldiers to stand trial in the Red Fort.
• Les Collaborateurs: How the INA is to Britain, and later the independent India, who refused to accept former INA soldiers to the new military for India and deny pensions.
• Off with His Head!: Immediately after their capture, Sodhi and Arshad witness the Japanese decapitating Western soldiers.
• Persecution Flip: After the Japanese occupation of Singapore, British POWs end up being guarded by members of the INA.
• Pre-Climax Climax: Sodhi and Maya in a Burmese cave before a British plane strikes the INA camp.
• Rousing Speech: Once each by Mohan Singh and Bose, twice by Sodhi:
  • First time when he was appointed the drill sergeant for the Rani of Jhansi Regiment, inspiring cadets with how his mother defied societal expectations and British oppression.
  • The second time to rally the remaining members of the INA for the final battle in Burma.
• Run for the Border: After the Burmese military almost killed them, Sodhi leads Amar and his friends through the Burmese jungle to the Indian border.
• Tank Goodness: The British Indian Army uses Sherman Fireflies in their final battle with the INA.
• The Quisling: The Indian translator who translated for the Imperial Japanese Army.
• Trading Bars for Stripes: The imprisoned soldiers of the British Indian Army are offered the chance to join the INA, or remain captive with the British. Sodhi and Arshad take the offer, and so do many other Indians.
• Weather of War: The monsoon in Burma takes a toll in the INA entrenched in Imphal with malaria infections, and slowing down of the supply lines with mud causing hunger and worsening health conditions, forcing the Japanese to order a retreat to the INA.
• Written by the Winners: The INA, being part of the Axis Powers that the Brtish Raj fought against is condemned in history as traitors by the Allies who won the war, and the Indian government.