By Subramani Ra Mancombu
Kissa Kursi Ka is a poignant reminder of the Emergency. Entering the 50th year of one of the key historic moments of Indian history, Kissa Kursi Ka highlights what Indian politics is. A former colleague forwarded the link to the much-sought-after movie, and there is no doubt that it is relevant even today. Personally, this should be rated among the top political satire movies, along with Cho Ramaswamy鈥檚 Tamil classic, Mohammed bin Tughlaq, in Indian cinema.
Kissa Kursi Ka has no great cast, but director Amrit Nahata has relied on his screenplay and, most importantly, dialogue. One of the most telling images of the movie is a speech-challenged 鈥淛anata鈥, or the public, portrayed by Shabana Azmi. Throughout the movie, Azmi dons almost the same costume 鈥 a tell-tale reminder that nothing changed for the common man.
Manohar Singh as President Gangaram is the hero and his portrayal of an economically downtrodden guy becoming the president probably reminds us how some politicians in the country have reached the top slot. At the start itself, the movie refers to 鈥淪anjay鈥 and 鈥渟mall car鈥. Gangaram鈥檚 first slogan is 鈥淕aribi Hatao鈥- all gentle reminders of what these were.
Towards the end, we have scenes where Gangaram鈥檚 election is held invalid by the court, and he declares an emergency. These are signs of why the movie was banned, and its negatives burned. It was remade and had to undergo several cuts at the hands of the Censor Board.
In one scene, a police official tells 鈥淛anata鈥, you have no right to laugh or rejoice, but there is no ban on you from crying. And when Janata鈥檚 honour is plundered by the President鈥檚 right-hand man, Deshpal, and questioned by Gangaram, he tells him: 鈥淚 have done only what you have been doing all these days!鈥
Is Nahata telling us that the 1971 war with Pakistan was stage-managed? Is Utpal Dutt鈥檚 character telling us something? Watch it if you can, and never forget the eight conditions of the Kursi!
Published on July 2, 2025