While a Prakash Jha movie based loosely on Sonia Gandhi’s life has been in the news for some time now, a quiet project is on to create a short film on her mother-in-law and former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. It is learnt that film director Ramesh Sharma — who has award-winning films and documentaries like New Delhi Times and Rumtek to his credit — has been roped in for the project ahead of Indira’s 25th death anniversary this year. The tribute film, which Sharma says will “encapsulate her life” in a short format, is expected to be told through “her words” and will show rare and distinctive visuals of the late PM.

The film, which will only be about 10 minutes long, will trace her growing up years at Anand Bhawan in Allahabad, the freedom struggle and finally her role and achievements as the Prime Minister. Expected to find prominent display in the film are policies and decisions closely associated with Gandhi such as bank nationalisation, the abolition of the Privy Purse and the Green Revolution.

Sharma, who is the chairman and managing director of the Moving Picture Company, has been entrusted the job by the Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust (IGMT) and is currently in the process of scouring for rare visuals of the ‘Iron Lady’ Amply assisted by the Information & Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry, Sharma is sourcing high-quality visuals of Indira Gandhi from international broadcasters and reputed archives across the world.

“The challenge is to tell her life story in a short film. We are in touch with the BBC, ITN and Cathay, among other major broadcasters to identify the right visuals, to get her speeches and images during her visits abroad, the events she attended and meetings she held with high-profile people. There is considerable research and hundreds of hours of work required to find the most distinctive and unseen visuals and also to relate her life story in her words. We are hoping to complete it early next month,” Sharma told The Indian Express.

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