Lack of research in the film ‘Emergency’.
BJP Lok Sabha member and actress Kangana Ranaut’s film Emergency is in the news. There is no doubt that she is an unmatched actress. Still Kangana could not do justice to the title of the film. Instead of Emergency, the film was made on the life of Indira Gandhi. BJP got angry with Kangana because the character of Indira Gandhi emerges as a tall figure in the film and Congress because the name of the film is Emergency. The result is that all the theaters are lying empty. Apart from me, there were 20 people other than me in the theater I went to in Indira Puram. Whereas the recent capacity was 250. Kangana has played Indira Gandhi in this film. His childhood, marital life and his efforts to climb up the ladder in politics have been shown candidly.
Emergency brought Indira Gandhi back to life
Watching the film, it seems that Kangana has heard and known Indira Gandhi a lot since childhood. Actually, Kangana’s great grandfather was an MLA from Congress and her grandfather was an IAS. That’s why he must have heard a lot about Indira Gandhi at home. Because of this, Indira Gandhi must have sat within him as a role model. All this is seen in the emergency movie but this film has been made without understanding history and politics, hence it has deviated from the topic. This is not a film on Emergency at all, it is the story of Indira Gandhi from childhood till her death. It would have been better if Kangana had named this film – Indira Gandhi; An Iron Lady! Its script is so weak and helpless that a lot of things have gone wrong. Nevertheless, as an actress, Kangana Ranaut has brought Indira Gandhi to life.
The character of opposition leaders appeared weak
The character of opposition leaders is definitely inferior during Emergency. For example, when Indira Gandhi goes to Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s house and there she tells him about the unrest happening on the East Pakistan border, Atal ji says that he will maintain peace in the Parliament. Shreyas Talpade, who played the character of Atal ji, could not play this role. He appeared to be a very weak politician. After Bangladesh became independent, he himself sang songs in praise of Indira Gandhi. This is a mess of the script of the film. Suddenly the girl Indira Gandhi becomes young Indira and starts ignoring her husband Firoz. She frequently goes to her maternal home, Anand Bhawan. After this, Indira Gandhi went to Assam in 1962 and advised the Assamese not to leave the area. There is no mention of this anywhere.
Indira Gandhi did not go to Assam in 1962
It is true that during the India-China war in 1962, the entire Assam region was isolated. If China had not called for a ceasefire, Assam’s departure from India was certain. But Indira Gandhi had no role in the ceasefire. She brought down the elected EMS Namboodiripad government in Kerala in 1959 when she was the Congress President. In 1957, the first elected communist government was formed in Kerala. Comrade EMS Namboodiripad was elected Chief Minister. He brought a bill, under which private schools also had to pay their teachers the same salary that the government gives. In protest against this, all the Christian missionary organizations of Kerala, Nair community and Muslim League started creating ruckus. Indira Gandhi was the Congress President at that time, she asked the Congress workers to support them. Then, by insisting on Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru, he got the Kerala government toppled.
Role in bringing down Kerala government
Kerala was the second state after Punjab, where the central government toppled the elected government. In Punjab, Nehru ji had suspended the elected government of Pandit Gopichand Bhargava for 302 days in 1951. Made his favorite Bhimsen Sachar the Chief Minister. Within a few days of the Constitution being implemented, the Constitution was amended and the Center took over the right to topple the provincial governments under Section 356. The Kerala government was toppled under this law in 1959. The then Congress President Indira Gandhi had a big role in this. In the film, Prime Minister Nehru says to his daughter Indira, Indu, you have become very stubborn. Without informing me, she went to Assam and toppled the government in Kerala. Indira Gandhi had not gone to Assam and Nehru did not like EMS.
lack of research
Kangana neither read the script nor read any book on political history before making this film, nor was proper research done before making the film. In such a situation, a film was presented to the audience which has neither end nor tail. Vishak Nair, who plays the character of Sanjay Gandhi, is a good actor but his character has been made like a loafer. Sanjay Gandhi was sharper and had more political will than his elder brother Rajiv Gandhi. He had a political mind, although he would make many mistakes in a hurry. But the way he was portrayed in the film makes him seem like a thief. However, Satish Kaushik has played the character of Babu Jagjivan Ram with full enthusiasm. But after the Emergency, when Morarji government was formed, he was shown sitting next to Indira Gandhi and insulting her.
Just justice by the role of Indira Gandhi
Babu Jagjivan Ram was a very decent and mature politician. When Bangladesh was liberated from East Pakistan, he was the Defense Minister. It is true that he was a natural contender for the post of Prime Minister but he also understood his limitations. When he separated from the Congress and formed the Congress for Democracy (CFD), the Congressmen cursed him a lot. Former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna had also come with him. Had it not been for their support, it would have been difficult for the Janata Party to enter the 1977 Lok Sabha elections. It should be kept in mind that in the Lok Sabha elections held after the lifting of the Emergency in 1977, the performance of Congress was excellent, except in the Hindi speaking states. Anupam Kher plays the role of Jai Prakash Narayan. His role is normal. It seems Kangana has relied more on hearsay in this film. Still, she has done complete justice to the role of Indira Gandhi.
There were dire conditions in 1966
Indira Gandhi took oath as Prime Minister four times and three Lok Sabha elections (1967, 1971 and 1980) were won under her leadership. Whereas in 1977 she herself lost the election. She lost this election because of the imposition of emergency in the country. But emergency was not imposed just to save one’s throne. The national and international circumstances of that time should also be considered. Indira Gandhi became Prime Minister after the death of Lal Bahadur Shastri. Congress had conducted the election process for the Prime Minister. She was elected by defeating Morarji Desai. At that time the situation of the country was very bad. There was a shortage of food grains in the country due to continuous droughts. Used to get very poor quality PL-480 wheat as donation from America.
When Johnson came to meet him in person
Indira Gandhi went to America for the supply of wheat. There she stayed at the residence of Indian Ambassador BK Nehru. American President Johnson was so eager to meet her that he came to BK Nehru’s house to meet Indira Gandhi. The President asked her, can I call you Madam Prime Minister? She said, but my staff calls me Madam Sir. BK Nehru in his book- Nice guys finish second; Memoirs have written in detail on this entire incident. Kangana used to show this scene in her trailer of the film Emergency till 2022 but then it disappeared. Perhaps he was under political pressure. In the film shown, she is shown waiting for President Richard Nixon and when Nixon meets her, Indira Gandhi looks quite nervous. Whereas the trailer was different from this.
Prime Minister till death
The outline for making the film was decided in 2022. By the time January 2024 arrived. Then the film got stuck in the censor board. Kangana did not tell what those people bit and beat her. But Indira Gandhi emerged as an Iron Lady in the film. I myself have seen Indira Gandhi on the front pages of newspapers continuously from 1966 to 1984. It seemed that she was born to become the Prime Minister and would remain the Prime Minister till her death. This also proved to be true. She died while holding the post of Prime Minister, that too by her bodyguards. He had flatly refused to remove him from his protection. This scene is in the film. Kangana has played the role of young Indira Gandhi to mature and aging Indira Gandhi very well.
Politics and films are different ends
Kangana is a big talker. He risked his film career to enter politics. Even made many compromises, but neither God nor Visale Sanam was found. As the situation happened. She won the election from Mandi Lok Sabha seat of Himachal Pradesh but the BJP high command did not pay any attention to her. On the other hand, she has become so distant from the Congress she inherited that now any compromise is impossible. He had to watch the political career of his predecessors superstar Amitabh Bachchan and Rajesh Khanna. What kind of misfortune happened in his politics. However, Hema Malini has survived because she has a low-profile in politics. He never opened his mouth against any leader. Neither did he react to any movement. That is why BJP is giving her ticket for three consecutive times and she also wins.
If you are from the movie then keep quiet
Vinod Khanna was a minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. He also won the 1998, 1999 and 2004 elections from Gurdaspur seat of Punjab. But did not get involved in any controversy. On the contrary, Shatrughan Sinha was also a minister in the Vajpayee government but due to his loudness, he was thrown out of BJP. Now in Lok Sabha from TMC. But Delhi is far from there. Sunil Dutt was both a film actor and a social worker, hence his political journey was also better. Everyone knows what happened to Jaya Prada. Therefore, it would be better if Kangana does not indulge in any kind of rhetoric while making the film and remains silent. Right now it seems as if there is only Kangana in films.
