Kissa Kursi Ka

''Kissa Kursi Ka'' () is a 1977 Indian Hindi-language political satire film directed by Amrit Nahata, who was a member of Indian parliament and produced by Badri Prasad Joshi. The film was a satire on the politics of Indira Gandhi and her son Sanjay Gandhi and was banned by the Indian Government during the Emergency period and all prints were confiscated. Music of the film was composed by Jaidev Verma.

Plot

The plot revolved around a corrupt and evil politician Gangaram or Gangu, played by Manohar Singh, trying to woo personified public, depicted as mute and helpless looking (Shabana Azmi.) The movie is a humorous comment over the system and the selfishness of the politicians regarded as a motion picture version of the cartoonist columns that are the most brutal taunt over the politics.

Music

Music: Raghunath Seth
Lyrics: Rakhesh

#"Jan Gan Desh Ke Gaayak Hai" (version 1) – Asha Bhosle, Mahendra Kapoor
#"Jan Gan Desh Ke Gaayak Hai" (version 2) – Asha Bhosle, Mahendra Kapoor
#"Jan Gan Desh Ke Gaayak Hai" (version 3) – Asha Bhosle, Mahendra Kapoor
#"Jan Gan Desh Ke Gaayak Hai" (version 4) – Asha Bhosle, Mahendra Kapoor
#"Jan Gan Desh Ke Gaayak Hai" (version 5) – Asha Bhosle, Mahendra Kapoor
#"Jan Gan Desh Ke Gaayak Hai" (version 6) – Asha Bhosle, Mahendra Kapoor
#"Sunte Ho Aji Sunte Ho" – Vinod Sharma, Madhur Bhushan, SaritaSethi, Sudhir Pandey, Pradeep Shukla

Cast

* Shabana Azmi as Janta
* Utpal Dutt
* Rehana Sultan
* Manohar Singh as President Gangaram 'Gangu'
* Surekha Sikri as Meera
* Raj Kiran as Gopal
* Chaman Bagga as Deshpal – President's Secretary
* Katy Mirza as Ruby Dixsana
* Swapna Sundari as an item number

Ban and print confiscation

The film was submitted to the Censor Board for certification on in April 1975. The film had spoofed Sanjay Gandhi auto-manufacturing plans (later established as Maruti Udyog in 1981), besides Congress supporters like Swami Dhirendra Brahmachari, private secretary to Indira Gandhi R.K. Dhawan, and Rukhsana Sultana. The board sent to seven-member revising committee, which further sent it to Union government. Subsequently, a show-cause notice raising 51 objections was sent to the producer by the Information and Broadcasting ministry. In his reply submitted on 11 July 1975, Nahata stated that the characters were "imaginary and do not refer to any political party or persons". By the time, the Emergency has already been declared.

Subsequently, all the prints and the master-print of the film at Censor Board office were picked up, later brought to Maruti factory in Gurgaon, where they were burned. The subsequent Shah Commission established by Government of India in 1977 to inquiry into excesses committed in the Indian Emergency found Sanjay Gandhi guilty of burning the negative, along with V. C. Shukla, Information and Broadcasting minister of the time. The only surviving print was made available on its TV Telecast on Zee TV.

Legal case

The legal case ran for 11 months, and court gave its judgment on 27 February 1979. Both Sanjay Gandhi and Shukla were sentenced to a month and two-year jail term imprisonment. Sanjay Gandhi was denied bail. The verdict was later overturned. In his judgment, District Judge, O. N. Vohra at Tis Hazari Court in Delhi, found the accused, guilty of "criminal conspiracy, breach of trust, mischief by fire, dishonestly receiving criminal property, concealing stolen property and disappearance of evidence".

Bibliography

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References

External links

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* {{Bollywood Hungama title, 506165

1977 films
Indian political films
Censorship in India
Censored films
1970s lost films
1970s Hindi-language films
Works about the Emergency (India)
Films scored by Jaidev
Indian satirical films