Kirti Kulhari is following up her feisty Falak Ali turn in Shoojit Sircar's Pink with a lead role in National Award-winning filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar's next. Titled Indu Sarkar, it is set during the 21 months of the Emergency and will have her in the title role. “Indu is raised in an orphanage and has a stammering problem but loves to write and read poetry,“ the actress informed, adding that Madhur offered her the film after seeing her in the courtroom drama. “After Pink, I wanted to do something that would challenge me further as an actor. We want to create the same impact as Tabu's turn in Chandni Bar with my character.“

She will start her prep after returning from her holiday in Andaman with husband Saahil Sehgal on November 1. To be shot over 40 days in Delhi and Pune, the film will roll in November. Madhur has been doing extensive research, visiting the Nehru museum and library in Delhi with his writer Anil Pandey. Earlier this year he met BJP veteran LK Advani and interacted with journalists like Tavleen Singh, Coomi Kapoor who penned The Emergency: A Personal History and political commentator Kuldip Nayar who has written The Judgement: Inside Story of the Emergency in India.