CONFIRMED: Vidya Balan Will Play Indira Gandhi
Will she do it? Will she not? Speculation about Vidya Balan playing Indira Gandhi on-screen has been rife for the last two years. And finally, there’s concrete news on this front. And it’s a good one...
We woke up to the
news of Tumhari Sulu actress acquiring the adaptation rights of journalist
Sagarika Ghose’s book Indira: India’s Most Powerful Prime Minister.
However, there was speculation if Vidya would indeed play the title role
herself. SpotboyE.com has it from a very reliable source, “Yes, Vidya Balan has
acquired the rights to Sagarika Ghose’s Indira and will play the title role.”
Obviously Vidya
has been excited about playing Indira Gandhi on-screen for quite some time.
Vidya Balan
SpotboyE.com has
been following the story since January 2015. This is when Rahasya director
Manish Gupta had approached Vidya to play the Iron Lady of India. Vidya
was initially sceptical but gave Manish a chance. When she read the script, she
was blown away (it was that good).
Vidya Balan And Manish Gupta
Manish tried in
all earnestness to get a nod of approval from then ruling Congress Party Chief,
Sonia Gandhi. In July 2015, we told you that Gandhi’s office had shown the
red flag to the director.
That was the last
we heard of the movie. But, fortunately, it wasn’t the last we heard of Vidya’s
burning desire to play India’s first female PM on celluloid.
And dreams do
come true. Like in this case.
Sagarika Ghose Pens Indira Ghandi's Biography
While modalities
about the cast, director etc are being worked on and an announcement will be
made at the right time, one thing is certain – unlike the last time, this
project is unlikely to get buried due to political pulls and pressures. A
source close to the project told us that “when a film is based on a book, you
normally don’t require permission from the political powers-that-be.”
Indira Gandhi
It helps that
Sagarika’s book on the former Indian PM has de facto blessings of the Congress
party. In fact the book was launched by Congress minister P Chidambaram.
Sagarika Ghose's Book Launched By Congress Minister P Chidambaram
It ensures that
the biopic won’t go the Indu Sarkar way. You might recall that Madhur
Bhandarkar’s 2017 political drama faced severe backlash from Congress leaders.
They labelled the film as “propaganda.” So much so, Supriya Vinod’s
character (Indira Gandhi), woman at the centre of the drama, was edited out
from the film. Indira, who had declared the Emergency in 1975, was hardly
seen in the film which revolves around that tumultuous period of Indian
history.
A Still From Movie Indu Sarkar
This time, Vidya
has nothing to worry. There’s nothing that can probably come between her
donning a crisp cotton saree and playing the formidable Madam Prime Minister
on-screen.
Image Source: Manav Manglani/ Instagram/ vidyabalanfans/ sagrikaghose
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