By Man Mohan T IMES N EWS N ETWORK
New Delhi: Which Mrs G will lead the Congress campaign? Indira will "come alive'' to bring it alive if some of the party strategists have their way. Storming into the fray with her trademark stride will be not one but two doubles. The actresses playing the child and young Indira in a still-on-the-sets film could be co-opted to draw the crowds and hopefully the votes. But it could backfire if the crowd finds out what its not getting: Manisha Koirala, who has the plum role of the power Indira when she broke free from the 'goongi gudiya' image and emerged as the "only man'' in the cabinet.
"If a double of Prime Minister Vajpayee can campaign for the BJP in the last assembly elections,'' says a top leader of the grand old party of India (Cong), "why can't Indira Gandhi come alive to checkmate him?''
The film Indira - A Tryst With Destiny, is a dream project of former MP Uttam Singh Pawar. "Indira Gandhi,'' says Pawar, "always inspired me - she was a fascinating personality. My idea is to make the film in English for the international market (like Attenborough's Gandhi) and in Hindi for the Indian market.'' Last year, Pawar had tied up with an Indian working with Hollywood but the deal broke when the NRI asked to insert some changes based on rumours that Indira Gandhi was once slapped by her late son Sanjay Gandhi over controversial guru Dhirendra Brahamchari.
The film's director is N. Chandra, whose most recent flicks include Style and Excuse Me. The producer is Nitin 'Gadar' Keni. Pawar, who is facing a cash crunch in this venture, is unable to complete the film before the elections to make a killing at the box office. He is reportedly inclined to loan his cast to the Congress. The chief ministers of some of the Congress-ruled states have shown interest in the project.
Pawar recently paid £15,000 to a London expert to prepare Indira Gandhi masks for Manisha to wear in the film. Before the film could hit the floor in mid-2003, it ran into trouble. A Mumbai resident, Naseem Khan, said to be a Congress activist, filed a suit against Manisha and Keni. He alleged that as Manisha was playing a commercial sex worker's role in Market, she should not be allowed to act as Indira Gandhi. But in Bollywood, there's always a twist in the script. With filmi naqlis adding to the plethora of asli Gandhis, this could become a confusing multistarrer of a campaign. There's Sonia, aided by Rahul and Priyanka, to say nothing of Maneka and Varun, confounding further those not initiated into the "split'' personality of the family. Today's Mrs G, Sonia, has competition enough from Maneka.
