Indu Sarkar

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 .

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 !

#InduSarkar is a slap on the face of the System. Set in the Emergency period, director Bhandarkar has succeeded in narrating a timely n topical tale.The costumes, hair styles, background score n locations seem authentic. Forced nasbandi, ban on Kishore songs, reckless demolition of slums n curtailment of freedom of expression, all are clearly depicted. Neil Mukesh is perfect as "the Chief", who will go to any extent to further his political ambitions. Kirti is very good as the docile wife, who laters turns into an activist. It doesn't matter which party is in power, the aam aadmi is always the victim. Worth watching. Rating 3/5.

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.

In Wikipedia they say it is 70% Fiction!

I don't believe it, it is more than 100% Facts, in a democratic country that too at a time nonviolence is practiced and respected, why there was emergency in the first place, there were and there will be many unanswered questions.

With power comes great responsibility, and they got this power from Gandhi and from the name they use at the end of their name.

This movie is one of the perfect example about how "power makes people to forget Humanity and Self-Respect".

10 Stars!