Kaun banega Indira Gandhi?

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">NEW DELHI: Almost two decades after Attenborough’s<span style="" font-style:="" italic=""> Gandhi</span>, the stage is set for the other Gandhi to be captured on celluloid. Kamleshwar, author-scriptwriter and former D-G Doordarshan, is busy finalising the first draft of a blockbuster on the life and times of Indira Gandhi.‘‘Don’t expect a<span style="" font-style:="" italic=""> Devdas</span>,’’ he says with a smile.‘‘Mrs Gandhi is not nostalgia, she’s history.’’<br />While the director is yet to be decided, the names thrown up include Pamela Rooks, Mani Ratnam, Gulzar, Shekhar Kapur and Vinay Shukla. The search for the lead role, preferably a new face, is still on. Conceived and part-produced by ex-BJP MP Uttam Singh Pawar (who is believed to be joining another political party soon), the film is expected to go on the floors soon.<br />Isn’t Kamleshwar — he wrote Aandhi — an unlikely choice for scriptwriter? ‘‘Not really,’’ he says, ‘‘Aandhi had nothing to do with Mrs Gandhi. The connection was a result of publicity, not planning. This film is on her. It’s about this fascinating and charismatic woman who had the guts of a man, the weaknesses of a mother and the vision of a leader.’’ <br />The budget is somewhere in the range of Rs 25-30 crores. Post-production costs could go higher. The film will be funded by two more companies along with Pawar. While Kamleshwar says he cannot reveal the names as the MoUs are yet to be signed, he admits that Congress CMs could be involved in the funding. ‘‘Ab sources to wahi hain. Apni HRD ministry to fund karegi nahin,’’ (Now they are the only sources. Our HRD ministry is unlikely to fund the film) he says pragmatically. <br />Does his research come from the Gandhi family? ‘‘I’ve met Soniaji once, and Natwar Singh, R K Dhawan and some others a few times. But none of the meetings were exhaustive. I did not want my interpretation to change or be coloured by what I hear from them. I did my research through the vast archival material on Mrs Gandhi. Sonia Gandhi is not involved with the project, but she would like to see the script once it is ready,’’ he said.<br />His interpretation of the character? Kamleshwar says he’s tried to strike a balance. <br />‘‘It’s naturally not possible to understand her character and her strengths without understanding her weaknesses, so I’ve kept both in mind. I’ve covered her life from her childhood through her prime ministership, the controversial excesses of Sanjay Gandhi and the dark period of Emergency. But I finally see her as a woman of great spirit and strength of character. My image of her is of the unbeaten woman sitting on the last pulliya at the Faridabad border following the Allahabad High Court judgement, saying: ‘You do not have the authority to put me in a jail outside Delhi’.� </div> </div>