CBFC demands omission of Indira Gandhi's assassination in Kangana Ranaut's Emergency?

Indira Gandhi

Ever since Emergency's trailer dropped online on August 14, there were growing objections and calls for ban on its release. Now, the Kangana Ranaut-directed biopic, which was slated to release on September 6, has been postponed. Reason? The makers have not received the go-ahead from the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).

The political drama chronicles the life of the late Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi, with an emphasis on how she imposed the Emergency in 1975 and her assassination by her bodyguards. While it was heard that the movie was cleared by the CBFC on August 29, the body apparently had a change of heart after it received a legal notice from the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on August 30 seeking to prevent its release. The group claimed that the film may "incite communal tension", alleging that its trailer depicted "erroneous historical facts that not only misrepresent the Sikh community, but also promote hatred and social discord." Several Sikh groups too objected to the film.

The postponement comes as a setback for Ranaut, who has not only starred in and helmed the movie, but also co-produced it. A trade source says, "Kangana is deeply hurt by this unexpected turn of events. The CBFC had cleared Emergency on August 29. They even put out their list of suggested modifications - which included muting the word ‘saala' in a dialogue, modifying the term ‘Mr President' to ‘Rashtrapati-ji' and submitting factual information for certain sequences - on their website, and stated that the film was given a U/A certificate.

However, the makers didn't receive a copy of the certificate. In the past two-three days, the CBFC started suggesting additional changes. Their most critical instruction is that the film shouldn't show Indira Gandhi's assassination by her security guards. This has shocked Kangana. If certain things are factually correct and documented in Indian history, why should she remove it from her film?" On Monday, in a podcast, Ranaut expressed her views on Emergency's deferral. The actor-director said, "An Emergency has been imposed on my film now… I'm disappointed with how things are unfolding here." Sources indicate that the film's team is hoping to resolve the matter and find an alternative release date.

Mid-day reached out to Ranaut as well as to CBFC chief Prasoon Joshi and other members of the body. However, they refused to comment. Former CBFC chief Pahlaj Nihalani said, "This has been happening frequently during Prasoon Joshi's tenure, where the CBFC [initially] clears a film, but stalls the certificate after it is sent a show-cause notice. The government may be [wondering] whether now is the right time to release Emergency, as it could [hurt] the sentiments of certain sections. So, they've kept it on hold."