Cinema and controversy are not strangers. Indian films have often landed in controversy, sometimes intended, more often unintended. Controversies have ranged from religious and social grounds to even political. None of the recent controversies, however, can match the furore that one political satire caused nationwide during the dark days of the Emergency. The chaos that followed made this film the most controverial to come out of the Hindi film industry, ending up with a senior politician in prison.
The case of Kissa Kursi Ka
Kissa Kursi Ka was a political satire directed by Amit Nahata and featuring big names like Shabana Azmi, Utpal Dutt, Rehana Sultan, Surekha Sikri, and Raj Kiran. The film followed a corrupt and evil politician trying to seduce a mute woman, the personification of the helpless public, or the aam janta. The movie had smart takes on corruption, systemic failures in Indian bureaucracy and politics, and more. The film was submitted to the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) in April 1975 and the board refused to certify it, sending it to a revision committee. The objection was that the film allegedly spoofed Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s son Sanjay Gandhi as well as Congress leaders and supporters like Swami Dhirendra Brahmachari, Rukhsana Sultana, amd PM’s secretary R.K. Dhawan.
How Kissa Kursi Ka’s prints were destroyed
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting sent a show-cause notice to the procducer, who responded that all characters were fictitious “and do not refer to any political party or persons”. But by then, the Emergency had been declared and the film’s release was stalled. Sanjay Gandhi and his supporters picked up all the prints of the film from the office of CBFC and allegedly burnt them at the Maruti factory in Gurgaon, ensuring that the film never releases in theatres.
How Kissa Kursi Ka sent Sanjay Gandhi to prison
In 1977, after the Emergency ended and Indira Gandhi was ousted from power, the new government set up Shah Commission to look into the alleged abuses committed during the Emergency. The Commission found that Sanjay, along with I&B Minister VC Shukla, was guilty of destroying the prints of Kissa Kursi Ka. The legal case, which began in 1978, concluded with a six-year prison sentence for Sanjay. The verdict, however, was later overturned in an appeal.
The only surviving print of the film eventually found its way to Zee TV in the 90s, where it was telecast 20 years after it was supposed to be released.
