Suchitra Sen’s Indira Gandhi-esque mannerisms in Aandhi — one hand on her sari pleats and waving at people with the other — plus the streak of silver in her hair had stirred up a row, leading to a temporary ban on the film.
The 1975 film, directed by Gulzar, was reportedly based on Indira’s life, although the director had denied it till the then Prime Minister was voted out of power in 1977.
Only after that did Gulzar admit to the magazine Illustrated Weekly: “Yes, the film was made with Indira Gandhi in mind.”
Sanjeev Kumar, who played the male lead, too said his character was based on that of Feroze Gandhi.
Aandhi had been cleared by the censor board in January 1975, but was banned by the Vidya Charan Shukla-headed I&B ministry just before its scheduled July release that year. The reason given was that the film sought to bring the system of elections by adult franchise into disrepute.
Producer J. Om Prakash called on Shukla claiming he would suffer a loss of Rs 40 lakh if the film was banned. He had then offered to “restructure” the story and Shukla had approved of the idea.
Scenes suggesting that Aarti Devi, the political character Suchitra played, smoked and drank a little were re-shot. One scene — of Aarti Devi looking at a framed picture of Indira and telling her screen father that she wanted to serve the country like Mrs Gandhi — was inserted. This was done to imply that the film was not a depiction of Indira’s life.
After Indira lost power in 1977, the new I&B minister in the Janata Party government, L.K. Advani, himself a film enthusiast, got Aandhi premiered on Doordarshan.
Gulzar was in Moscow when the film was banned in 1975. “I received orders that the film should not be shown at the Moscow film festival. We were also told that all posters and publicity material must be removed. The front page of The New York Times carried the news that the film has been banned because it was said to be based on Indira’s biography,” Gulzar is quoted as saying in his biography.
According to former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit, Indira had not watched Aandhi. But when Dikshit told her the movie was not “negative” towards her, Indira had asked about the storyline and Suchitra’s acting calibre.
Dikshit told Indira that Suchitra’s hair had a streak of silver and she walked briskly but gracefully, coming across as an indomitable woman. The similarities with Indira were hard to miss. Indira subsequently saw the movie on video and appreciated Suchitra’s performance.
Aandhi had generated a lot of interest. In south Delhi, a poster was spotted in 1975 that read: “See your Prime Minister on screen.”
Actress Vyjayanthimala said Gulzar had approached her first to play Aarti Devi. “I admired Indiraji (Gandhi) so much that I got cold feet when the role was offered to me,” she said, terming it one of the three regrets of her life. The other two were her inability to act in Bimal Roy’s Bandini and to work with Guru Dutt.
According to Gulzar, producer Om Prakash played a big role in his signing Suchitra, persuading him to meet her. She had readily agreed as the movie revolved around a woman politician who fights powerful men to take on bigger challenges. Suchitra generously credited Gulzar for his skilful handling of Aarti Devi.
The actress died on January 17, 2014, aged 82, three decades after she had retreated from public life and turned a recluse.
Needless to say, she never entered politics.
