Even Congress could not have made a better film on Indira Gandhi: Expert who reviewed Kangana’s ‘Emergency’

On September 18, the CBFC informed the Bombay High Court that its examining committee, “owing to the narrative and subject of the film”, had invited a “subject expert” during the screening, and that Lal’s presence was requested for this purpose.

The High Court ordered the CBFC to decide on the film’s certification by September 26.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Lal, who co-authored NCERT’s history textbooks during NDA-I government, said, “Congress knows I am not a great admirer of the party. But still, facts have to be accepted. And a personality of Mrs Gandhi’s stature needs to be respected. My reaction, when I saw the film, was that even the Congress could not have made a better historical film on Mrs Gandhi. She (Kangana) has not deviated even 0.01% from the facts. This is one of the most sympathetic films I have ever seen on a political leader. It’s not at all partial.”

However, the historian added he did have one suggestion on the film’s ending. “My main suggestion was that the film ends with a shot of Mrs Gandhi. I felt this would create a problem. I suggested that instead of ending the film with her death, the filmmakers should show, maybe in 20 to 30 seconds, what happened after that: Rajiv Gandhi’s infamous statement of ‘when a tree falls…’ and the subsequent massacre of Sikhs. Otherwise, it is going to be a problem because it will become a one-sided film,” he said.

“To balance it, you must show what happened immediately after that… the impact has to be shown. And I had submitted this in writing (to CBFC) in my three-and-a-half-page note,” said Lal, who has been associated with Aligarh Muslim University and has been a fellow at the Vivekananda International Foundation.

During the September 18 hearing, the CBFC informed the Bombay HC that the Board’s chairman Prasoon Joshi had decided to refer the matter of the film’s certification to the revising committee. The examining committee had already cleared the film for UA certification, but this was put on hold in the wake of protests and representations received by several Sikh groups.

According to sources, this was mainly because of two scenes. “There’s one scene (from the film’s trailer) in which some Sikhs can be seen opening fire on innocents, and another where Bhindranwale is seen striking a deal with Sanjay Gandhi and promising to bring votes for Indira Gandhi’s party in exchange for a separate Sikh state,” a source said.

Several Sikh organisations have written to the CBFC and approached the courts to halt the film’s release, citing concerns over its portrayal of Sikhs.

Lal said this “controversy is totally unwarranted”. “Is Bhindranwale representative of the entire Sikh community? Bhindranwale is an individual, a proper noun, not a collective noun. So where is the question of misrepresentation of Sikhs?” he said.

The film’s story is written by Ranaut, who plays the lead role, and its screenplay by Ritesh Shah. It also stars Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Mahima Choudhary and the late Satish Kaushik.