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Hindustan Times
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
Emergency: From censorship to arrests, when culture, artists came in crosshairs
In January 1976, state-owned television broadcaster Doordarshan started airing a show called Geeton Bhari Shaam. A brainchild of Sanjay Gandhi, the son of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, it brought together some of the most popular singers and actors of the time to extol the 20-point programme, a set of socio-economic development initiatives initiated by the government. Actor Dilip Kumar delivered a four-minute speech on the importance of population control. Singer Asha Bhonsle and music composer RD Burman sang the popular number, Ek Main Aur Ek Tu, from the 1975 film, Khel Khel Mein, with a full-instrument orchestra that included Rishi Kapoor on the tambourine. Another popular singing duo, Lata Mangeshkar and Mukesh, performed a song from the hit film, Kabhie Kabhie, as Amitabh Bachchan, Shashi Kapoor and Rakhi (the cast of the film) stood beside them. But what Doordarshan didn't show was the sordid truth about why the most popular singer of the time was missing. PREMIUM Movies like Kissa Kursee Ka and Aandhi, which had characters that seemed to be based on then PM Indira Gandhi and peopleclose to her, were banned after Emergency was imposed. (IMDB) On June 25, 1975, President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed signed the Emergency proclamation on account of 'internal disturbances' that 'threatened the security'. Indira Gandhi's government censored the press, jailed opposition leaders, and sterilised thousands of people. Cinema, the stage and the canvas bore the brunt, too. Outspoken playwrights and actors were vindictively crushed or harassed. Films like Kissa Kursi Ka and Aandhi were banned, and artistes were made examples of. Kishore Kumar was one of them. 2 In April 1976, then information and broadcasting minister Vidya Charan Shukla deputed CB Jain, joint secretary in the ministry, and PV Krishnamoorthy, the director-general of Doordarshan, to visit Bombay (as Mumbai was then called) and meet industry representatives. The meeting took place on April 29, and included producers and directors such as GP Sippy, BR Chopra, Subodh Mukherjee and Sriram Bohra, the head of the All India Producers Council. However, Kumar refused to show up. When Jain phoned Kumar asking to pay him a visit at home, Kumar replied that his doctor had advised against meeting people on account of heart trouble, and in any case, Kumar did not want to sing on stage or television. Incensed, Jain hung up. A witch hunt ensued. On May 4, 1976, Kumar's songs were banned by the Air India Radio and Doordarshan. Overnight, his voice was written out of all broadcasts — authors Aniruddha Bhattacharjee and Parthiv Dhar wrote in the book Kishore Kumar: The Ultimate Biography (2022)that even duets were played with only the female singer's voice. In 1977, the Janata Party-led government , formed after Indira Gandhi's defeat in the general elections, instituted a commission headed by former Chief Justice of India JC Shah to investigate the excesses committed during the 25-month-long Emergency. Shukla admitted to the commission that 'the team of I&B ministry officers [...] were unhappy over the attitude displayed by one of the leading artistes, Shri Kishore Kumar. Because of the feeling that Shri Kishore Kumar was not willing to cooperate with Akashvani and Doordarshan, some action was contemplated.' 'The harsh measures taken against Shri Kishore Kumar had a 'tangible effect' on film producers,' the commission's interim report read. 'Apart from the constitutional responsibility, [Shukla] is actually responsible for gross misuse of power,' it stated. Kumar wasn't the only one caught in the crosshairs of the then government. The censor board rationed raw film negative, and imposed arbitrary rules on what could be depicted on screen — images of liquor bottles and blood were cut; action sequences were limited to only 90 seconds at a time, with a total of only six sequences permitted — and it routinely asked directors to re-edit their films. In April 1975, Amrit Nahata, a film producer and Congress MP, submitted Kissa Kursi Ka, starring Shabana Azmi, Raj Babbar and Manohar Singh, to the censor board. The film was a parody on Indian politics and featured characters who seemed to be based on individuals close to Indira Gandhi. There was also a clear reference to Sanjay Gandhi's small-car project, and the alleged favouritism that helped set up his Maruti factory in Haryana. However, a review committee and the I&B ministry banned the film. All prints, including its masterproof, were burnt. Gulzar's Aandhi, starring Suchitra Sen and Sanjeev Kumar, was banned because the leads apparently bore an uncomfortable resemblance to Indira Gandhi and her husband, Feroze. 3 Ideological differences were subjected to worse punishment. On June 25, 1975, Snehalata Reddy and her husband, Pattabhirama Reddy, had just finished filming the Kannada film, Chanda Marutha (Wild Wind), which was based on the play by P Lankesh, Kranti Bantu Kranti, and dealt with themes of people's protests and state dictatorship. The film was shot in the couple's home, which was a well-known Bangalore landmark, where all manners of writers, artists, and filmmakers were welcome. Snehalata was soon picked up under the Maintenance of Internal Securities Act (MISA) after the Central Bureau of Investigation argued that she was a close associate of George Fernandes, a fellow socialist and later member of the Janata Party. She was eventually released in January 1977 due to her deteriorating health and died within days. The Emergency also saw artists create hard-hitting political critiques on stage and canvas, often at great risk. In the 1970s, Navjot Altaf, was a member of the Progressive Youth Movement (PROYOM), which was sympathetic to the Communist Party of India (Marxist - Leninist). The police used the Emergency to crack down on who it saw as sympathisers of the Naxalbari movement, an uprising of the rural and urban youth against the state. Navjot recalled hiding the cyclostyle machine on which they made PROYOM posters, and burning documents. In 1977, one of her drawings made in response to the Emergency showed a citizen wrestling with the monstrous tentacles of the state, Nancy Adajania said in the artist monograph, The Thirteenth Place. On stage, too, actors and playwrights responded to the corrupting influence of unchecked power. Utpal Dutt produced Bengali plays such as Barricade, Duswapaner Nagari (City of Nightmares), and Ebaar Rajar Pala (Enter the King), which were banned by the government. Vijay Tendulkar's Dambadweepcha Mukabala used a folk tale to satirise the Emergency and Indira Gandhi. 4 At the same time, the 1970s was a good decade for the business of films. In 1975, over 13,000 theatres dotted the country and box office collections of mainstream Hindi cinema crossed a billion dollars annually for the first time. Films such as Deewar and Sholay, depicting Bachchan as the Angry Young Man — devoid of political angst, but fuelled with the desire to do good — became blockbuster hits. The government also course-corrected its own media strategy during the Emergency. In order to recover loans from defaulting filmmakers, a report on New Indian Cinema brought out by the government in 1976, proffered the Film Finance Corporation (later the National Film Development Corporation) new criteria, such as 'Indianness in theme and approach', 'human interest stories', 'approachable characters', among others, to grant loans. According to film scholar Ashish Rajadhyaksha, this period complicated the state's influence on New Cinema, which emerged in the 1960s fuelled by FFC. The films, which already possessed an 'aesthetic of state control', were able to take on political issues and offer social and political critique, such as Satyajit Ray's Charulata (1964), Nayak (1966) and Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne (1968) as well as Mrinal Sen's Bhuvan Shome, Mani Kaul's Uski Roti and Basu Chatterjee's Sara Akash, all produced in 1969. During the Emergency, the Films Division, set up in 1948 to educate the public through short films and documentaries, was tasked with making 20 films to extol the virtues of the government's 20-point programme. The FD separately also made short films with titles such as Freedom from Fear, Kidhar Ja Rahe Ho [where are you going], Kaisa Andhera [what kind of darkness], and Our Indira that depicted young people who had lost their way through protests and violence. 'From colonial times, the state has been afraid of the cinema, because of its potential for disruption of law and order and thus, it has practised regulation in the name of public order. Indira Gandhi was an important figure in that she had made possible the New Cinema Movement of the late 60s-early 70s, with the formation of Film Finance Corporation that was not only aesthetic and well-made but also spoke for the state, as it were. So when the Emergency came along, the idea of cinema that was more supportive of the state was not a new one,' said Rajadhyaksha.
Indian Express
18-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
Zayed Khan says he felt his flop Blue was ‘Fast & Furious ka baap' while reading script: ‘We spent Rs 100 cr on it, Kylie Minogue sang'
Unlike his cousin Fardeen Khan, Zayed Khan is still waiting for a comeback on screen. Both the actors were part of some memorable films back in the 2000s before their careers began deteriorating. Fardeen has made a comeback now with Heeramandi and Khel Khel Mein last year, and the hit Housefull 5 this year. But Zayed's last stint was the TV show Haasil in 2018. Zayed feels he did films which were way ahead of their time, which explains why they didn't work at the box office back then. He specifically named Leena Yadav's 2005 psychological drama Shabd, his home production and Sahil Sangha's 2011 romantic comedy Love Breakups Zindagi, and Anthony D'Souza's 2009 action adventure dud Blue as films ahead of their time. 'If you'd read the script of Blue, you'd have felt ye Fast & Furious ka baap hai (this is superior to Fast & Furious). It was fantastically done, and I felt Blue is really going to break all barriers. With that cast — Akshay, Sanju, Lara, and Katrina — I felt it's going to go in the direction of a franchise,' said Zayed on Siddharth Kanan's podcast. Produced by Shree Ashtavinayak Cine Vision, Blue starred Akshay Kumar, Sanjay Dutt, Lara Dutta, and Zayed, with Katrina Kaif in a cameo. With large portions shot underwater, the film bombed at the box office. 'The failure surprised me because I don't think we caught the script like how it was written. I had told Anthony. You can shoot amazing things and feel like a badshah (king), but when you don't stitch the narrative correctly with thehrao (poise)… the action scenes can be done well without even a fist being raised, it can all be in the screenplay. There was a difference between cup and lip, of how that should've translated on screen,' argued Zayed. Blue was indeed intended to be a franchise as D'Souza had even revealed his plans to make a sequel titled Aasman in 2012. However, Zayed hinted that there were creative differences between the cast, particularly Kumar, and the makers on the sets of Blue. He said, 'I wouldn't want to say because there were some creative differences between people on set, but doesn't that happen all the time?' Zayed also revealed that the makers left no stones unturned while making the film. 'We'd spent Rs 100 crore then, it was unheard of. And I have to say they did a fantastic job at the production, with the best of action directors from Hollywood and Kylie Minogue coming in,' recalled Zayed. The popular Australian singer crooned the dance song 'Chiggy Wiggy' alongside Sonu Nigam in Blue, and also featured in the song alongside Kumar. Also Read — Sanjay Khan's house was mortgaged, cars sold after Tipu Sultan fire accident, recalls son Zayed Khan: 'His skin was melting on the hospital sheet, couldn't recognise' Zayed's parallel between Blue and Vin Diesel's long-running blockbuster action thriller franchise Fast & Furious may remind one of the time when Varun Dhawan compared his film, Rohit Shetty's 2015 romantic saga Dilwale, to Christopher Nolan's 2010 cult sci-fi thriller Inception. Later, he clarified he was joking about the same.
India.com
11-06-2025
- Entertainment
- India.com
Meet actor who was thrown out of films after debut movie, father gave ultimatum, says 'his love was tough'; He is..., father was...
We have probably seen a list of actors who took breaks after giving several hits, and today we will be talking about one of them. Worked for over a decade in the film industry, lived his chocolate boy era and then disappeared for over a decade. Comeback after a decade Suddenly, after a decade, he made a comeback with Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Netflix India period drama Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar and Mudassar Aziz's dramedy Khel Khel Mein last year and Tarun Manshukhani's ensemble whodunit comedy Housefull 5 this week. Yes, we are talking about Fardeen Khan. But did you know, like many second-generation actors of his era, Fardeen Khan's early years in the industry were marked by struggles. Fardeen Khan: 'It was tough…' Talking about the box office failure and negative reviews of his debut film, directed by his late father Feroz Khan, Prem Aggan, recently, the actor opened and said, 'Of course, it was tough. Criticism was harsh.' He further added, 'People I was supposed to be working with in my next few projects changed their minds and pulled out of the projects. Money had to be returned. It was really a good chance to sit back and think.' Feroz Khan gave him an ultimatum? On the Cyrus Says podcast, Fardeen remembered that his father, Feroz Khan, gave him an ultimatum after his debut film, Prem Aggan, flopped. Fardeen said, 'He said, 'We tried, we failed.' I'm putting a roof over your head for one year. I'll pay you an X amount of money every month. After that, you're on your own.' Fardeen further added, 'It was a beautiful call. He said I've sent you to one of the best universities in the world. I hope you're prepared to deal with life. This is how life is.' Fardeen was informed by Feroz Khan that his father had passed away when he was only 13 years old. He had to look after his family, which had five brothers and a sister. Fardeen added, 'He said, 'I had a vision, I did it. Now, let's see what you're made of.' It was as simple as that. It was really what I had to hear at that time. His love was tough! That just speaks to the kind of guy he was.' According to reports, Fardeen Khan had always been more passionate about filmmaking than being on camera. After returning from film school abroad, his father, Feroz Khan, decided to launch him as an actor, with Prem Aggan marking his Bollywood debut. 'I had a director who was just not my father, but also an iconic actor. So you're just worried about not getting it wrong. You bury the pressure and put it away, especially in cases like mine, whose father is so iconic in so many ways. If you think about that, you're finished. You just try and be honest with yourself and the written word on the script. And you try not to mess it up,' he said.
Indian Express
09-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
Fardeen Khan says dad Feroz Khan threatened to throw him out of the house after first film flopped: ‘I'll put a roof over your head for a year, after that…'
Fardeen Khan made a comeback to the showbiz with Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Netflix India period drama Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar and Mudassar Aziz's dramedy Khel Khel Mein last year and Tarun Manshukhani's ensemble whodunit comedy Housefull 5 this week. But like several second-generation actors of his generation, the first few years were rather rough. 'Of course, it was tough. Criticism was harsh,' said Fardeen, reflecting on the box office failure and negative reviews of his debut film, his late father Feroz Khan's 1998 romantic drama Prem Aggan. 'People I was suppose to be working with in my next few projects changed their mind and pulled out of the projects. Money had to be returned. It was really a good chance to sit back and think,' added Fardeen. On the Cyrus Says podcast, Fardeen recalled Feroz Khan gave him a fair ultimatum after the Prem Aggan flopped. 'He said, 'We tried, we failed.' I'm putting a roof over your head. I'll pay you an X amount of money every month. After that, you're on your own,' said Fardeen, adding, 'It was a beautiful call. He said I've sent you to one of the best universities of the world. I hope you're prepared to deal with life. This is how life is.' Feroz Khan told Fardeen that he was just 13 when his father died. His family had five brothers and a sister, and he had to take care of all of them. 'He said, 'I had a vision, I did it. Now, let's see what you're made of.' It was as simple as that. It was really what I had to hear at that time. His love was tough! That just speaks to the kind of guy he was,' added Fardeen. Fardeen confessed he was more interested in filmmaking than being in front of the camera. But after coming back from film school abroad, his father decided to launch him as an actor in Prem Aggan. 'I had a director who was just not my father, but also an iconic actor. So you're just worried about not getting it wrong. You bury the pressure and put it away, especially in cases like mine whose father is so iconic in so many ways. If you think about that, you're finished. You just try and be honest to yourself and the written word on the script. And you try not to mess it up,' he said. Also Read — Fardeen Khan opens up about giving up alcohol, sought professional help to get sober: 'I started drinking at a young age, it was interfering with my life' Fardeen also reasoned that those days, actors used to shoot on film instead of digital. 'It was a huge part of the budget. It was just about not doing anything wrong and going with the process. I had no say in the dialogues or the script because I hadn't earned my stripes in any way,' said Fardeen. Fardeen followed Prem Aggan with Ram Gopal Varma's 2000 survival thriller Jungle. Fardeen was 35 when Feroz Khan passed away in 2009.
Indian Express
07-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
Fardeen Khan opens up about giving up alcohol, sought professional help to get sober: ‘I started drinking at a young age, it was interfering with my life'
After taking a long break from films, Fardeen Khan decided to resume his acting career during the second lockdown at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. In a recent interaction, the actor recalled that although he was eager to return to films, he didn't know where to begin, having been away from the industry for such a long time. Adding to the challenge was the fact that he had put on some weight and was at 102 kgs during his hiatus. Speaking about the same to Cyrus Broacha on his YouTube channel, he said, 'I knew I had to get in a certain shape. I was 102 or 103 kgs at my heaviest and not muscle — just good old body fat.' Fardeen admitted that he worked on himself in trying to get healthy. 'Last week I was 78 kgs. I lost 25 kgs,' he shared. He then spoke about his sobriety and shared that he gave up drinking in 2020 and sought professional help to do so as his drinking was starting to interfere with his life. 'I was at a stage where I just didn't feel myself. I became sober in 2020 and I stopped alcohol in one go. I needed to stop, it was interfering with my life. I took professional help to stop and it was the best decision I have made in my life. I started drinking very, very young so this was the first time the brain fog lifted,' he shared. In an earlier interaction, Fardeen had shared that he took a 14-year-long break from acting to focus on family. He moved to London to be with his wife, Natasha Madhvani, as the couple was facing some challenges in having children. After becoming a father to a daughter and a son, the actor decided to extend his break to spend more time with his kids. Speaking to Bollywood Hungama, he said, 'We were having challenges having children, and that's when we decided to take the IVF route. That's why I needed to take some time off. It wasn't meant to be this long. I thought only for a few years… get everything settled, but things didn't happen that way. Then, when my daughter was born, my heart melted, and I thought, let's spend some time with her.' Apart from Heeramandi, Fardeen has also starred in films like Khel Khel Mein, Visfot, and the recently released Housefull 5. He also has the Kannada film The Devil in the pipeline.
