When Mrs Indira Gandhi introduced Lata Mangeshkar to her two little fans

The Iron Lady of Indian politics Indira Gandhi had a deep affinity to Hindi cinema, although for obvious reasons she could not spare time to see many films. Nonetheless like Prime ministers Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Narendra Modi, Indira Gandhi and her father Jawaharlal Nehru were also very fond of Lataji’s voice. Everyone knows the story of how Pandit Nehru wept on hearing Lataji sing Ae mere watan ke logon on January 27, 1963. But no one knows what happened after this. Lataji was taken to Pandit Nehru’s residence for tea with the Prime Minister and his daughter. While she waited for the PM, Mrs Gandhi came into the room with her two sons Rajiv and Sanjay, then aged 19 and 17 and said brightly, “Lataji, meet your two biggest fans.” Since then Mrs Gandhi maintained a healthy relationship with Bollywood except during the Emergency when Kishore Kumar was banned from All India Radio for reportedly not attending and singing at a governmental function. Gulzar ’s Aandhi which he claimed was not based on Mrs Gandhi’s life (of course not!) was banned. Mrs Gandhi is a political figure who has forever fascinated the Indian film industry. Various actresses have attempted to play her on screen. Sadly splashing on that patch of grey hair at the front of the head is not enough. Mrs G had a certain power and poise which made her cabinet and other colleagues cower in anxiety. Merely choosing actresses with a passing resemblance to the original is not enough of an impetus to portray this all-powerful character. Suchitra Sen in Gulzar’s Aandhi was the exception. Producer J Om Prakash asked Gulzar to suggest a story. Gulzar narrated the idea of Aandhi to him. Nobody had made a film on a powerful female politician. Aandhi was one of Suchitra Sen’s rare Hindi films. Her other famous film is Asit Sen’s Mamta. Three years before Aandhi, Gulzar had gone to Suchitra Sen with another script for a film by producer Sohanlal Kanwar. She suggested some changes. Gulzar refused and left. When Gulzar went back with Aandhi to Kolkata Suchitra Sen quipped, ‘This time I won’t make any suggestions.’ The formidable loved the story of Aandhi and offered Gulzar cold milk. That remained a ritual between them throughout the making of Aandhi. Since the actress had a problem with her Hindi she was turned into a Bengali character. Other actresses who have attempted to play Indira Gandhi include Navnee Parihar in _Bhuj: The Pride Of India_ , Lara Dutta in _Bell Bottom_ , Kishori Shahane in PM Narendra Modi, Flora Jacob in two films _Raid_ and _Thalaivii_ , Avantika Akerkar in Thackeray, Supriya Vinod in Indu Sarkar, and Sarita Choudhary in Midnight’s Children. None of these came anywhere close to projecting the real Mrs Gandhi’s no-nonsense jo-keh-diya-so-keh-diya personality. Let us see what Kangana Ranaut does with the imposing character. Subhash K Jha is a Patna-based film critic who has been writing about Bollywood for long enough to know the industry inside out. He tweets at @SubhashK_Jha. Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News ,  India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.