From the 1930s to the '40s, when India was struggling for Independence, China was facing invasion from the Japanese. Around this time, General Zhu De wrote to Jawaharlal Nehru, requesting for physicians to save the lives of Chinese soldiers.

Born in a middle-class Maharashtrian family from Solapur, Dr Dwarkanath Kotnis, 28, had graduated from the Seth GS Medical College in Mumbai. After an appeal was made in the press by Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, who was the president of the Indian National Congress, Dr Kotnis sought permission from his family to volunteer. In September 1938, the Indian Medical Mission Team, including Dr M Atal from Allahabad, Dr M Cholkar from Nagpur, Dr BK Basu and Dr Debesh Mukherjee from Calcutta, and Dr Kotnis, was dispatched to China. His decision to brave the war-torn country proved to be a life-changing one. In 1946, it inspired the movie, Dr Kotnis Ki Amar Kahani, directed by V Shantaram. Seven decades later, has inspired another one.