Indu Sarkar

A lot could have been shown of the Emergency Period.

One of the darkest periods of the country - the 1975 emergency - is the milieu for this political flick from Madhur Bhandarkar. Though the film falls short of expectations and hype garnered pre-release, there are some very good performances (in spite of a wasted presence of Anupam Kher) and of course the political observations on the infamous human rights violations and censorship carried out by the power-hungry Gandhi dynasty. That said, Neil Nithin Mukesh stands out exceptionally compared to the titular Indu Sarkar in his brilliantly etched out persona of Former MP Sanjay Gandhi, the ruthless executioner of ridiculous emergency decrees by his mummy in the 19 months of emergency! Incidents like the forced sterilization campaign of '76, Turkman gate demolition and rioting in Delhi, Former PM IK Gujral's fallout with Sanjay Gandhi over the formers bid to control All India Radio and the ban on Kishore Kumar songs in radio (over his refusal to perform on one of congress rallies in Mumbai) find their way into the major unfolding of events, but still the film loses its plot halfway ending up into an average screenplay of sorts - rather focusing on the lead Indu Sarkar's transformation from a meek stammering housewife to an activist during emergency period against the government, fuelled by her first hand experience during the Turkman gate incident. The relevance of such movies might be the screen time worth it imparts to the new age audience on the ugly face of dynasty politics, shrewdly criticized all over the flick with its take on Indira Gandhi's 20 point program or the mass arrest without trial of journalists, RSS members and communist activists in a massive crackdown on civil liberties and political opposition in the name of internal security. It is paradoxical to the say the least that the same party is trying to put up a pseudo-democratic front and playing the caste and religion trump card at the slightest pretext even today, projecting the same family member decade after decade as their leader (this in spite of the numerous other eligible personalities to take up the same role, but alas not from the same family) It is no wonder that there was a stiff opposition from Congress circles in some places ahead of the movies screening , given the kind of incidents it reminds the people of. All said and done, Indu Sarkar is definitely an interesting watch for those interested in politics , partly because of the timeline of events it traces to the ultimate fall of Gandhi dynasty in 1977 and the rise of Janata party which ultimately paved the way for non congress parties to come in power !

Madhur Bhandarkar's controversial film Indu Sarkar, starring Kirti Kulhari, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Anupam Kher & Tota Roy Chawdhury, has been released Today.

The film is based on some incidents during the time of emergency in 1975. But, as the disclaimer says, it is more fictional than reality. The story is of a girl who stammers. She got married to a Government officer. But during the period of emergency, and because of some political activities, she changes her path from supporting her husband in wrong to working for people of the nation. That is how the story goes, and what happens to her next is the story line of Indu Sarkar.

Though, it is based on the era of emergency, I felt that some portions are missing. The focus has been kept on Indu only. So, Gandhis have been ignored. Or I guess, it is the political pressure to not show more of them. That's why the film lacks in originality and thrill. So, it just becomes an ordinary film.

Direction is good by Madhur. Cinematography is also good. Some dialogues are superb. Like 'Arjun Ka Irada Dol Sakta Hai, Ghayal Druapadi Ka Nahi!' Music of the film is above average. The famous qawwali 'Çhadhta Suraj' has been recreated here. Other than that, at the end, a song by Monali Thakur called 'Yeh Aawaz Hai' is also good.

What makes this film a worth watch is performances by all the actors. Neil as Mr. Gandhi does his job perfectly. We have never seen Anupam Kher doing bad acting, did we! Kirti Kulhari is at her best. We have seen her acting ability in Pink. This time too she picks up the mood of Indu in a subtle way, and delivers an award worthy performance. Especially, in the climax speech! Others are also good.

On the whole, the film is surely an one time watch. Having said that, it could have been made more gripping and should have more facts about emergency. Then it would have become a cult film. But, what we have right now is a 7/10* film.

Indu Sarkar review :

Most of us have not witnessed the emergency rule imposed in the mid 70s by then prime minister Indira Gandhi. As a kid born in that infamous era, I had once asked my dad if he faced any hardships during that 21 month period when freedom of speech and basic human rights were curbed. His answer was in the negative...Instead he said the Government machinery was actually efficient during that time and sarkari babus would report to office on time plus trains ran as per schedule. I was amused to hear this fact reiterated as a dialogue in Madhur Bhandarkar's latest film 'Indu Sarkar'.

The title, by the way, doesn't refer to Indira Gandhi and her autocratic Sarkar. It is actually the screen name of Bhandarkar's main lead Kirti Kulhari, a diffident orphan with a stammer, who settles for a cosy marital life with a Government stooge (Tota Roy Chowdhury). Witnessing the horrors of the Turkman gate demolition, Indu takes custody of two kids orphaned in that destruction and it changes her perspective towards life making her rebel against the tyrannical system.

Madhur Bhandarkar has recreated most of the atrocities committed in name of the fascist five point programme spearheaded by Sanjay Gandhi (Neil Nitin Mukesh) referred in the movie only as the 'Chief' by his cronies - obvious caricatures of Jagdish Tytler, Kamal Nath and Rukhsana Sultana (named Farzana here). Right from the forced sterlization of men from 13 to 70 years of age to the banning of Kishore Kumar songs on Doordarshan and All India Radio (the only medium of entertainment in those times) - it's all neatly chronicled here.

What's not - and I was tad disappointed with that - is depiction of the opposition role during those turbulent times. Our protagonist Indu goes and joins a five member fictitious organisation called Himmat India Sanghatan headed by a leader (Anupam Kher in a cameo) with an ideology of non violence ignoring the real life contribution of the RSS and Jayaprakash Narayan's Janata Party which is merely accorded a passing reference.

On the acting front, Madhur has extracted a superlative performance from Kirti Kulhari. No surprises there as the director could make even Bipasha Basu ''act'' in his 'Corporate' (2006). Kirti also gets a court room confrontation scene a la 'Pink' (2016) and nails it to perfection. Tota Roy Chowdhury is impressive as her hubby who owes allegiance to the Gandhi Sarkar only to further his career. He pays the price for it. Neil Nitin Mukesh registers himself strongly with a striking resemblance to Sanjay Gandhi. Satyajeet Sharma and Sheeba Chaddha leave an impression even in their small roles.

Regards, Sumeet Nadkarni.

It's is the best film in my life .which showed me the dirt in the emergency period & the absence of a good philanthropist in govt .