Why filmmakers are suddenly taking on the topic of Emergency

Politics has fuelled Bollywood scripts for years. From Garam Hawa in 1973 that set out to explore the life of a north Indian Muslim in post-partition India, to the recent spurt of movies that included films such as Sarkar, Rajneeti and Satyagraha, which drew from more contemporary backdrops of Indian politics, Hindi films have often taken a leaf out of the country’s political scene. After a bit of a lull in the space, three films have now chosen to revisit the Emergency era soon. With Hazaron Khwahishen Aisi being one of the few films that have successfully dealt with the topic before, the current lot, which includes Indu Sarkar, San Pachattar and Baadshaho will delve deeper into India in the ’70s. While they don’t address the political phenomenon per se, they are set against the backdrop of what is possibly the country’s biggest political episode, post partition.

San Pachattar for instance, is about the first mobile phone that was brought to India during the Emergency. Despite the seemingly civilian tone of the movie, producer Kabir Lovee is well aware that this is one of the most sensitive political eras to delve into. Does that make him nervous? “We’re not being preachy or making a statement through our film. But we’re making an honest product,” he shares. At a time when the Central Board of Film Certification has come down heavily on ‘objectionable content’, a film like this may come under heavy scrutiny, but Kabir isn’t deterred. “I personally don’t believe in censorship at all. I think it’s very regressive especially at a time when we have Amazon and Netflix, where there isn’t any censorship at all. We’ve spent a lot on this film to recreate a certain era. It’s an expensive film without having any A-listers. I hope all goes well.”

One of the biggest challenges about making a historical film is ensuring that the facts are in place. Gurinder Chadha’s Viceroy’s House, for instance, came under fire recently for telling India’s Partition story from the proverbial ‘victor’s perspective.’ Filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar, who has earlier dabbled in the political genre with Satta, is aware of the challenges that the storyline will throw up. “People are always interested in politics. As long as this interest in politics is sustained, films will continue to take it up as a subject. I am aware that historical period dramas need to pay extra attention to the factual details, and as long as that is taken care of, one must be allowed to tell the story that he or she wants. Freedom of Expression guarantees my freedom to tell the story I want.”

Despite this, what thrives in Bollywood, is content. Trade analyst Taran Aadarsh believes that it is a good idea to revisit history to keep it relevant to the current age group. “The generation today might not be aware of some of the most important historical moments of the country and films are a great way to educate them. Having said that, for anything to thrive in showbiz, it has to be entertaining too. Content is king and it absolutely must be entertaining.”

The third film, Baadshaho, on the other hand, delves deeper into one event that took place during the Emergency, but isn’t entirely based on the episode. Says the writer of the film Rajat Arora, “It is a very interesting space in history when a lot of things happened, but didn’t come out in the open because of the pressure on the media.” Given that it was over 40 years ago, could this be a good time for those stories to come out? We’ll have to wait and watch.