First Indian Family Inspires Drama In Films And Television

By Niloufer Khan / INN Live

As Anil Kapoor's action thriller show 24 hit the small screen a week ago, the audience could not miss the striking resemblance some characters bear with prominent political leaders of the country. It did not take much for the audience to draw a thematic parallel with the Gandhi family as the plot of the first story unfolded. 

The opening episode talks about a plot to assassinate Aditya Singhania, a prime ministerial candidate and a youth icon, who is guided by a dominating mother, played by Anita Raj. The mannerism, attire and idealism of Aditya, played by Neil Bhoopalam, remind one of Rahul Gandhi while Anita's character seems similar to Sonia Gandhi. 
The script misses no chance to take references from the family's real life. Aditya's father, who was a powerful leader, was murdered in a conspiracy. Although the channel and the actors have vehemently denied any reference to any political family, some characters like a wayward brother-in-law, a sulking sister and a scheming cousin draw strong comparisons.

The show produced by Anil Kapoor is about an anti-terrorist unit headed by Jai Singh Rathore, played by Anil, who runs against time to foil the assassination bid. 

"There is a lot of political upheaval that society is taking a note of. No one really thought of presenting a political drama on TV, which as a team we thought was the perfect recipe for a new kind of entertainment," said Anil. 

Another new show that makes audience draw a comparison with the Congress president is Desh Ki Beti Nandini. The story of Nandini focuses on the journey of a middle-class girl, played by Kirti Nagpure, who is married into a political family and suddenly gets a foothold into the world of politics. 

While Indian television has recently woken up to the political drama, it's an old formula in Bollywood. Film-maker Prakash Jha, known to be the pioneer of political drama, made films such as Gangaajal, Rajneeti and Satyagraha based on the lives of various leaders.

Mani Ratnam's 1997 Tamil film Iruvar was a fictionalised account of the lives of political icons M.G. Ramachandran and Karunanidhi, in which southern biggies Mohanlal and Prakash Raj played the leads. Aishwarya Rai made her debut in the film where she played a character named Pushpa, reportedly based on J. Jayalalithaa. 

Several film-makers have tried to present grim political drama on screen but a very few have made films that are entertaining as well as intriguing. 

Shyam Benegal's Kalyug, which drew inspiration from Mahabharata, was a gritty drama featuring Shashi Kapoor and Rekha, Sudhir Mishra's Hazaron Khwaishein Aisi presentethe Emergency and Anurag Kashyap's Gulaal dealt with student politics. 

All said and done, Gulzar's 1975 film Aandhi starring Suchitra Sen and Sanjeev Kumar still remains one of the most powerful films based on the life of a politician. The intense political drama faced the ire of the Congress for allegedly taking direct references to Indira Gandhi. The film was banned during Emergency.

Overview Of Inspirations:

• 24The thriller-action tele-series produced by and starring Anil Kapoor went on air a week ago. The opening episode featured a young leader facing an assassination bid. The leader, a Prime Ministerial candidate, forced viewers to draw parallels with Rahul Gandhi. His politician mother, played by Anita Raj, seems similar to Sonia Gandhi.
• SatyagrahaPrakash Jha's 2013 release was broadly modelled on the life of Anna Hazare and his Jan Andolan. Amitabh Bachchan's character bore striking resemblance with Anna. While Jha denied any similarity, the audience could clearly compare the protest scenes in the film with Anna's campaign at Ramlila Ground.
• Madras cafeShoojit Sircar's recently released spy-thriller recreated the brutal killing of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991. The film had a Rajiv Gandhi lookalike, played by Sanjay Gurbaxani who was referred to as 'ex-PM'. Southern actor Ajay Ratnam played Anna Bhaskaran, head of a fictional LTF outfit, which was reportedly based on LTTE leader Prabhakaran.
• RaajneetiPrakash Jha's 2010 blockbuster drew parallels to the epic Mahabharata but it was Katrina Kaif's look that grabbed attention. Katrina's look in the film created an uproar of sorts because her mannerism, style and anglicised Hindi instantly brought Sonia Gandhi to mind. While she denied any connection of her role with anyone in the Congress family, Katrina admitted that she watched videos of Priyanka Vadra to get the character right.
• AandhiGulzar's Suchitra Sen and Sanjeev Kumar starrer was an intense political drama that faced the ire of Congress for allegedly making several direct references to Indira Gandhi. The 1975-film was banned during Emergency as Sen donned bordered sarees with a white streak in her hair like Indira. Gulzar claimed the film was based on the life of freedom fighter Tarkeshwari Sinha.
• Desh Ki Beti NandiniKirti Nagpure's saree-clad avatar was quick to spark off speculation that her story was inspired by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi. But the channel denied any reference and claimed that the show was fictional. The story is about a girl, who as she is married into a political family, gets a foothold into the political world. The show narrates the changing equation between the members of a family struggling to find a political heir.
• IruvarMani Ratnam's 1997 Tamil film was a fictionalised account of the lives of political icons M.G. Ramachandran and M. Karunanidhi, in which southern biggies Mohanlal and Prakash Raj played the leads. Aishwarya Rai made her debut with the film where she played Pushpa, a character reportedly based on J. Jayalalithaa. Ratnam had also drawn references from the life of Tamil leader Anna Durai, played by Nasser.