The 21-month period of India's Emergency (1975-1977) saw a chilling clampdown on the glamorous world of Bollywood. Anurag, a researcher, lists some of the famous violations by the government.
Dev Anand was a prominent voice of dissent. For openly criticizing the Emergency, he was blacklisted by state-run media, with his films and even his name banned from Doordarshan and All India Radio. Similarly, the legendary playback singer Kishore Kumar was blacklisted after he famously refused to sing at a Congress propaganda event.
Iconic filmmaker Satyajit Ray also felt the pressure. He faced subtle restrictions for his critical perspective, including a refusal to make a documentary on Jawaharlal Nehru for the government. Actor-director Manoj Kumar, despite being seen as a nationalist filmmaker, had his films heavily censored for not aligning with the regime's messaging.
Actor Amrish Puri was blacklisted from Bollywood for a period, and actress Shabana Azmi found herself targeted for her political activism.
