Indira Gandhi Once Said To Manoj Kumar To Make A Film On Emergency
In an interview with Lehren, actor-director Manoj Kumar revealed that once Indira Gandhi told him to make a film on Emergency but he dropped that idea later.
Transcript
00:00 When I was researching and writing the film 'Shaheed'...
00:06 ...Kanuji Angre, who is known as the first naval admiral...
00:20 ...was in the sea...
00:24 ...he would stop British ships...
00:32 ...and steal their ammunition.
00:35 He would kill them.
00:37 This was his character.
00:40 I thought...
00:43 ...that in our country there were kings, princes and nobles.
00:48 How did the masses rise?
00:54 If the masses rose, there would be no farmers.
00:58 Our country is ruled by farmers.
01:01 Some fought and some surrendered.
01:06 I was making a film, 'Naya Bharat'.
01:13 Indira ji had asked me to make it in an emergency.
01:17 I signed Salim Javed.
01:21 I told him to write the story and I would write the dialogue.
01:25 We became very close.
01:28 I have known Salim since 1958.
01:32 He is not just someone I know...
01:35 ...or someone I know from my profession.
01:39 He is not just a friend.
01:43 He is more than a brother to me.
01:48 In an emergency...
01:54 ...I was told that I had read a bad news.
02:00 The film was dropped.
02:05 I said, "Yes, it is there."
02:09 I would sit down...
02:14 ...and write the scene.
02:20 I would tell Salim on the phone or Javed at his house.
02:27 But I was so emotionally close to him...
02:35 ...that I gave him the name.
02:40 But...
02:44 ...Salim Javed worked very clearly.
02:51 Six or eight weeks before the release of the film...
02:55 ...he wrote in the film information...
02:59 ...that there is nothing for us in the revolution.
03:02 Whatever has been done, it is done by Munoz Kumar.
03:06 The End