Indu Sarkar: Pahlaj Nihalani claims CBFC is not obligated to respond to letter from Congress leader

In a not-so-surprising outcome, the Madhur Bhandarkar-directed Indu Sarkar — based on the Indian Emergency of 1975 under the Gandhi government — has become the subject of the Congress’ ire once again. [caption id=“attachment_3518733” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Poster of Indu Sarkar.[/caption] This time the row over Indu Sarkar is helmed by none other than Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam, who has written a letter to the Chief of the Censor Board of Film Certification, Pahlaj Nihalani. According to TV reports from CNN News18, Nirupam has demanded a ‘pre-screening of Indu Sarkar’ exclusively for Congress. However, Madhur Bhandarkar gave a befitting response to the aggrieved leader. “I will show the film to the Censor Board, not political parties,” said Bhandarkar. Bhandarkar cannot understand why his film is being ‘attacked’ and claims that he is being ‘pressurised everyday’ to ‘change names and change slogans’ in the movie. “I’m known to make cinema which is very real. Whether it is Page 3, Fashion, Corporate or Heroine. As a filmmaker I felt this generation should know exactly what had happened during the Emergency. And what I’m showing has already been reported and documented. I’ve said that my film is 30% real and 70% fiction. People are giving legal notices, someone has issued a Fatwah against me, someone has blackened my face [ referring to Congress worker Haseeb Ahmed’s announcement of a Rs 1 lakh reward to anyone who would smear black ink on the filmmaker’s face]. It is absolutely absurd. Is this what you call Freedom of Expression?” said Bhandarkar, in several statements to CNN News18. In response to Nirupam’s letter Nihalani said, “It seems the media got the letter addressed to me from Mr Nirupam before I did. Before I read the letter to me, it was out in the press. If, as he says, the film is likely to tarnish his leaders, why is he giving the film publicity by releasing the letter to the media.” He went on to add, “We get such letters from any number of individuals and organisations asking us to stop a film from release. We are not obligated to respond,” according to an IANS report. This is not the first time that Indu Sarkar has found itself embroiled in the heart of controversy. Previously, Congress spokesperson Jyotiraditya Scindia had said _Indu Sarkar_  was “fully sponsored”, adding, “The organisation and the individual who is behind the film is known to us. We totally condemn the false depictions in the film”. Indu Sarkar  is being touted as a highly political piece of work set in an important era of Indian politics.  The film stars Neil Nitin Mukesh, Supriya Vinod, Kirti Kulhari, and Anupam Kher in integral roles. Music composers Bappi Lahiri and Anu Malik have also collaborated for the first time to give music to the film. Indu Sarkar is slated for a 28 July release. Also read our article on Indu Sarkar and Baadshaho, the two upcoming Bollywood releases that have the Emergency of ‘75 as the film’s backdrop. With inputs from IANS.