Madhur Bhandarkar took to his social media profile and shared a message along with a small video. He wrote, “Tribute to the great novelist & poet Shri Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay who penned India National song '#VandeMataram on his birth anniversary”

Today is the 180th birth anniversary of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, the Bengali literary giant who is today best remembered for penning the words of 'Vande Mataram', the National Song.

Political leaders from across the spectrum have posted to their social media accounts to commemorate the birth anniversary of the man who is arguably considered among the key figures of the renaissance of Bangla literature.

He calls "Indu Sarkar" a "niche project made on a budget of Rs 6.5 crore to Rs 7 crore".

While the audience and critics have praised lead actress Kirti Kulhari, some critics have called the film "a watered-down, bloodless version" of the Emergency period, a propaganda movie which offers "half-baked" politics.

Asked about the mixed reviews, Bhandarkar told: "The collection is decent and quite good considering the budget of the film. I am very happy with the response. It was a limited budget and a niche film. We have mainly newcomers in the film. The film was shot in 42 days.

"Honoured to receive the Bharat Gaurav Award at UN hall in New York. I humbly dedicate it to our pride Indian Armed Forces and their families," Bhandarkar tweeted on Saturday.

Bhandarkar, also a recipient of the Padma Shri, has made a name in the industry for making socially relevant films like "Traffic Signal", "Chandni Bar", "Fashion" and "Page 3".

On the film front, the National Film Award winning filmmaker is tied up with "Indu Sarkar". Starring Kirti Kulhari, Tota Roy Chowdhury and Anupam Kher, the film is set in the 1970s when the Emergency was announced in India. 

The 14-day festival, which will screen films which have won National Awards across categories this year and will open with Marathi film "Kaasav" directed by Sumitra Bhave and Sunil Sukhtankar, said Rajendra Talak, vice chairperson of the Entertainment Society of Goa, a semi-government agency which is hosting the event.