Admire Jyotiraditya but remarks were unexpected: Madhur Bhandarkar

National Award-winning filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar, whose film "Indu Sarkar" is facing flak from the Congress, says he admires Congress spokesperson Jyotiraditya Scindia but the latter's remarks on the film and himself were unexpected.

"I wonder how could Jyotiraditya 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," Bhandarkar told IANS.

On Monday, Scindia said: "The organisation and the individual who is behind the film is known to us. We totally condemn the false depictions in the film."

The film has a political backdrop that captured the Emergency period of India during the rule of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1975.

Is the film based on any real life character, considering there is physical similarity of Sanjay Gandhi and Indira Gandhi with the character played by Neil Nitin Mukesh and Supriya Vinod?

"If you want to know about the story, it is 70 per cent fiction and 30 per cent of realism. The backdrop of the film is an emergency ... that has happened ... that we all know. The audience should watch the film in totality to understand the story. I did not put my own political views in the film ... it is based on media reports during the time of the Emergency," said Bhandarkar.

The filmmaker is known for bringing realism on the big screen with films like "Page 3", "Chandni Bar" and "Fashion", among others.

"I am the person who is making a film that has shown the mirror to the society that has been celebrated at the box office as well as by critics and won the National Award. Do you think I will just randomly make a film on Emergency? I did extensive research work before shooting the film," he said.

On the other hand, CBFC chairperson Pahlaj Nihalani said in a report: "Indu Sarkar does not name anyone. There is no mention of Mrs Indira Gandhi or Sanjay Gandhi or anyone else in the trailer. You are only presuming the film is about the people you mention because of the physical resemblance. I didn't hear anyone's name mentioned in the trailer. If they are mentioned in the film, we'll see. At the moment, I am glad someone has made a film on the Emergency. It is a 'kaala dhabba' (black spot) in our political history."

Asked if such comment from the CBFC gave him a boost of confidence? Bhandarkar said:" Well, he has his logic to prove his point, but I am saying the same thing, we did not mention any political party or individual's name. Let's get the censor certificate and release the film. Let the audience decide what the film is about and if it is a biased take on any political incident."

The film is releasing on July 28.

--IANS

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