Vidya Balan’s soaring ambition to play Mrs Indira Gandhi has crashlanded. Vidya was to play Mrs Gandhi in a web series to be produced by Vidya’s husband Siddharth Roy Kapur. It was to be based on well-known television journalist Sagarika Ghose's critically acclaimed book on Mrs Gandhi. Three years after the announcement, reliable sources say the project has been called off.
“Making biopics on controversial political figures is not conducive to the current political climate. With Kangana Ranaut playing Mrs Gandhi, it makes no sense for Vidya Balan to go down that dangerous road,” a source informs ETimes.
This is not the first Indira Gandhi biopic to be called off. Manisha Koirala was to play India Gandhi, too. The project was launched on the occasion of the 85th birth anniversary of Indira Gandhi. Titled Indira Gandhi A Tryst With Destiny, the film was to be produced by Nittin Keni and directed by N Chandra.
Script writer Kamleshwar, who wrote the script for Aandhi (also based on Mrs Gandhi, hence the rhyming title) conceptualised the project for which Hridaynath Mangeshkar was to score the music. The film was meant to be a biographical sketch of Indira Gandhi. With a strong emphasis on objectivity. The film was going to concentrate not only on the political career of Indira but also her personal life.
Manisha Koirala was so excited about playing the iconic Mrs G that she even decided to get the shape of her nose altered. However the project, like many proposed biopics on Mrs Gandhi before and after, was aborted.
The late filmmaker Krishna Shah (of Shalimar fame) also approached Madhuri Dixit to play Mrs Gandhi. He met Madhuri in her home in Colorado in 2009 and showed her the vast research that he had done. Nothing happened thereafter.
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