Kissa Kursi Ka

1977 142’ col Hindi d Amrit Nahata pc Dhwani Prakash st/lyr Rakesh sc Shivendra Sinha m Raghunath Seth lp Utpal Dutt, Shabana Azmi, Chaman Bagga, Raj Babbar, Surekha Sikri, Dinanath, Rajeshwar Nath, Master Champalal

Gross political satire renowned mainly as a censorship scandal during the Emergency. The original version of the film attacking Indira Gandhi’s rule was apparently destroyed by Sanjay Gandhi’s men. Its fate was later linked to the Turkman Gate carnage in Delhi as examples of the authoritarianism of the regime. Nahata remade the film after the Emergency was lifted. The film has its villainous politician (Dutt) mouthing flowery rhetoric, usually addressing a character who stands for ‘the people’, Janata (Azmi). After several allusions to the Emergency, the politician rapes Janata. Nahata, who introduced the remake, later joined the Congress Party and disowned the film.

Film