BJP wants Indu Sarkar to be tax-free after Congress attacks Madhur Bhandarkar film

National award-winning director Madhur Bhandarkar's upcoming film Indu Sarkar seems to be in the middle of a political battle whose first shots were fired by the Congress, but the BJP is hitting back now. 

The film claims to depict the Emergency era under former prime minister Indira Gandhi, and some of the atrocities conducted under its garb by not only her but also her son Sanjay Gandhi. 

The period of Emergency in the 1970s is a thorny topic for the Congress, because it marked a point in the history of India since independence when democracy — for which freedom fighters laid down their lives — was at stake. 

The Congress objects

The trailer of the film — starring Kirti Kulhari, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Tota Rochoudhury and Anupam Kher, among others, was released earlier this month, and has stirred a veritable hornet's nest with the Congress.

Party leader and spokesperson Jyotiraditya Scindia has said about the flick: "This film is fully sponsored. The organisation and the individual who is behind the film is known to us. We totally condemn the false depictions in the film." 

This, when censor board chairperson Pahlaj Nihalani had said in an interview earlier: "I saw Madhur's trailer, and I want to congratulate him for blowing the lid off one one of the most shameful chapters of Indian politics. This was a time when the nation was put in the most embarrassing spotlight in the global arena. Many of our biggest leaders had to go to jail during the Emergency. Indian people's morale had hit rock-bottom."

Bhandarkar reacts

Madhur Bhandarkar has received the national award for best director for films like Fashion and Traffic Signal, and whose first film Chandni Bar — which catapulted him into the big leagues of Bollywood — won the National Film Award for Best Film on Social Issues. Thus, his films are eagerly anticipated. 

Therefore, when the Congress attacked his film, he shot back: "I wonder how Jyotiraditya could make such a remark without watching the whole film. I admire him as an individual but this was not expected. Just one trailer has come out whereas in the film I did not mention any name of any politicians, did I?"

Make it tax-free: BJP

The BJP has now latched on to the issue. Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga, the spokesperson of the Delhi unit of the saffron party, has appealed to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to make the film tax-free — a move that, if implemented, will lower the price of its tickets. 

Bagga has said in his letter to Jaitley: "I request your good office to tax-exempt the above-mentioned film [Indu Sarkar]. This is so that more people can know about that unfortunate dark phase of our democracy. And I am sure that this will also serve as an inspiration how our ancestors fought back to restore democracy in our country."

The Indira debate

Indira Gandhi has been one of the more polarising figures in the modern history of India. As a result, films on her and the period of Emergency are controversial, to say the least. 

Such controversy had arisen at the time of the release of Aandhi, a 1975 film directed by acclaimed filmmaker Gulzar and starring Sanjeev Kumar and Suchitra Sen. The character played by Sen was said to be loosely based on Indira Gandhi. 

However, Gulzar had nipped the controversy in the bud by changing his film a little bit, and having Sen's character say that Indira was one of her favourite politicians. That meant no one could say the character was based on the former prime minister.

Watch the trailer of the film here: