Boman Irani lends voice to documentary '1947: Brexit India' exploring British rule as business venture

Actor-filmmaker Boman Irani has turned narrator for new documentary ''1947: Brexit India'', which reframes India's independence through an economic lens, examining the 338-year British presence as a commercial enterprise rather than a political saga.

Filmmaker Swarnjit Singh and Eclectic Films have launched on YouTube the promo for the documentary, which is helmed by Sanjivan Lal and written by screenwriter Shama Zaidi of ''Garam Hava'' and ''Shatranj Ke Khilari'' fame.

The two-hour film traces the British journey in India from their arrival as traders in 1609 to their departure in 1947.

The documentary argues that what Indians experienced as liberation was, for the British, a strategic exit from an empire that had ceased to be profitable, a press release said.

It addresses the startling paradox of how a nation accounting for just two per cent of world GDP colonised a subcontinent contributing 25 per cent to the global economy, while never deploying more than 0.05 per cent of India's population to administer it.

''They came as traders, evolved into a mafia-style control over Indian rulers, and finally quit when their business went bad following the financial ruin of World War II,'' said producer and concept creator Swarnjit Singh, who has spent over a decade researching the subject.

''This film is about the untold economic story that every Indian and student of history deserves to know,'' he added.

The documentary draws on commentary from author and Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, historian William Dalrymple, security analyst Commodore Uday Bhaskar and political scientist Dr Ishtiaq Ahmed, among others.

Tharoor said the film pulls back the curtain on the commercial interests that drove the British Empire and helps audiences understand the complexities of India's colonial past.

''1947: Brexit India'' was an official selection at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) 2023 and Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF) 2024.

The documentary is slated for a digital premiere on a major OTT platform.

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