One is to look Indu Sarkar as a propaganda film against the Congress party, aims at showcasing the atrocities inflicted upon various communities during the Emergency. There is a subtle, yet, extremely clear attempt to highlight Muslims forming a major portion of the victims.
We have Neil Nitin Mukesh channelling Sanjay Gandhi as the prime minister’s son who is only referred to as the “chief” while the PM is referred to as “mummyji”. The unofficial ban on Kishore Kumar from radio and television after he refused to sing for Sanjay Gandhi also gets a mention in the film.
Despite having gathered a group of critically appreciated actors, Madhur Bhandarkar fails to make the best use of them. Neil Nitin Mukesh is one of the most wasted talents in the movie. He has given some of his best performances as a mean, high-on-power person but his act as “chief” in Indu Sarkar appears too superficial.
Actually Indu Sarkar film was publicised as a film “on Emergency”, it actually oscillates between a political drama and a typical Bollywood film about a couple. Unfortunately, the transition between the two narratives is neither smooth nor convincing.
