Director Madhur Bhandarkar, National Award winning filmmaker, certainly needs no special introduction. From a video cassettes library owner to filmmaking was not exactly a smooth sailing journey for him.
Yet apart from winning a lot of critical acclaim for his movies from Chandani Bar to Indu Sarkar, Madhur Bhandarkar has always been surrounded by controversies galore. So much so that it is rightly said that controversy is indeed the middle name of Madhur Bhandarkar.
Be that as it may be so Madhur Bhandar’s latest film Indu Sarkar is almost on the verge of release on 28th Jul, 2017 and right since the day the release date has been announced its controversial spell has begun. First it was the Censor Chief Pahlaj Nihalani in lieu with one of the Gandhi family’s member who had tried to put a full – stop over Indu Sarkar’s release with the objection that there are many incidents in the film which may taint the Gandhi family’s image and just when that controversy had ended, here comes another roadblock in the way of Madhur Bhandarkar and his film Indu Sarkar.
It so happens that now the Congress Party workers are raising a huge protest against Madhur Bhandarkar and his film Indu Sarkar mainly to stop the smooth sailing release of Indu Sarkar that too without any rhyme or reason whatsoever.
Since the Congress Party workers protest broke out yesterday Madhur Bhandar in a special media briefing has urged the Congress Vice – President to put a check on these so called protests stating that, “I am fighting on all the fronts right now and it’s a bit scary also – Congress Party Workers are protesting strongly against me and my film Indu Sarkar. Besides somebody is sending me legal notice, Jagdish Tytler wants a clear image in the movie and then censor board too. Please do something about it. I just hope that I go through all these obstacles smoothly and release the film on 28th Jul, 2017.”
Madhur Bhandarkar added further, “I have also requested Rahul Gandhi on Twitter to keep a check on his party workers who are protesting against my film. Lots of people have made documentaries on the Emergency. But Congress is rattled ever since the trailer is out. The higher authorities in Congress have to play a major role and hold a press briefing to say that they condemn such acts. Do you want to run a parallel censor? Some Congress party workers have distanced themselves from me ever since the trailer of the film has come out.”
Madhur Bhandarkar also made a reference to his 16th Jul, 2017 tweet when he had tagged the account of the Office of Rahul Gandhi on Twitter and wrote, “Dear Rahul Gandhi after Pune, I have to cancel today’s (Sun) press conference at Nagpur. Do you approve this hooliganism? Can I have my freedom of expression?”
Madhur Bhandarkar also requested the Congress President Rahul Gandhi to take action against the local Congress party workers, who are constantly sending threats to him regarding the release of his forthcoming film Indu Sarkar. So much so that he was forced to cancel the promotional activities of his film in Nagpur & Pune last week after receiving threats from the Congress party workers
Earlier on, Mumbai Congress President Sanjay Nirupam had penned a letter to the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) Chief Pahlaj Nihalani, asking for the movie to be screened for them before it is censored. The CBFC later suggested 12 cuts & 2 disclaimers in the film. Madhur Bhandarkar had been asked to remove words like RSS & Akali from the film Indu Sarkar.
The film Indu Sarkar features Neil Nitin Mukesh, Kirti Kulhari, Anupam Kher & Tota Roy Chaudhary. And it is set against the backdrop of the 1975 – 1977 Emergency Period, although it has characters inspired by the Late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and her Late son Sanjay Gandhi.
As of now Madhur Bhandarkar has been provided police protection amidst tight security.
