Surrounded by many controversies last year, Kangana Ranaut’s directorial Emergency finally hit the theatres on January 17, 2025. The film stars Kangana Ranaut as the former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, Anupam Kher as Jayprakash Narayan, Shreyas Talpade as Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Vishak Nair as Sanjay Gandhi among other supporting actors. Kangana has also written and co-produced the film while the screenplay is by Ritesh Shah. Emergency is about the important events in Indira Gandhi’s life, from her childhood to her sudden death. The film has a few wow moments with strong performances from the actors, however, it’s the direction and screenplay where the movie falls flat.
Plot
Emergency picks some significant events from India’s post-independence era specifically around the life and leadership of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. It touches a bit upon the childhood of Indira Gandhi and how she was inclined towards making a strong political presence. The film covers important history chapters like- the War of East and West Pakistan, the Soviet Union friendship treaty, the Nuclear test in Pokhran, the Emergency and Operation Bluestar, to name a few. The film also sheds light on Indira Gandhi’s personal life such as her dynamics with her son Sanjay Gandhi, her approach towards handling tough situations in life and battling the inner conscience that came after declaring an Emergency in India.
What Works?
Kangana Ranaut has given attention to details in the portrayal of Indira Gandhi. Our former Indian Prime Minister was one of the strongest women in Indian history known for her powerful and fearless political decisions, and the actor translates this beautifully on the big screen. From her walk to the way she talks, her accent and her voice, Kangana Ranaut pulls all of it without making it look caricaturist and exaggerated. The actor is impressive throughout the film.
Vishak Nair As Sanjay Gandhi delivers a noteworthy performance in the film. The actor slowly comes to the forefront and by the second half of the film becomes a major focus of attention for the audience. His character as Sanjay Gandhi has a strong persona which begins with a very caring nature towards his mother Indira Gandhi but gradually turns into a power-hungry political figure who is ready to go to any extent. The actor smoothly makes this shift happen on the big screen and TBH, he was the most impactful actor in the cast.
Post-Interval
Emergency becomes comparatively more engaging in the second half. Post-interval, the film deals with the fall and rise of Indira Gandhi by showing some key events like the Lok Sabha Elections right after the termination of the Emergency, Indira Gandhi’s infamous elephant ride to meet the Dalits in Bihar, her win as the Prime Minister and eventually the Operation Bluestar which led to her unfortunate death. The second half of the film has the addition of some real clips from the last operation under her leadership and it’s intriguing to watch it on the big screen. We are reminded of Indira Gandhi’s glorious and controversial leadership as PM and why she holds a special place in every Indian’s heart.
Also Read: What To Watch From January 13 To January 19: Emergency, Azaad, Paatal Lok Season 2, And More!
What Doesn’t Work?
Screenplay
Emergency has a very flawed narrative structure. It gives the impression of just slightly touching upon the various events in the post-independence era with little to no care about making an impact on the audience with the storytelling. Also, there is no clarity in how the events from history are portrayed and the important figures are shown. If someone wants to brush up on their history lessons or learn something from the film then the movie is too vague to fulfil these expectations. It’s like the film is in a rush to tick all the boxes without focusing on particular events and adding some kind of depth to the story.
Songs
What’s more annoying is the addition of songs in the middle of some really important scenes. The unnecessary need of turning a political drama into a musical is difficult to comprehend. It instantly distracts the audience from the film.
Some Questionable Moments
The movie goes too dramatic at times which left me wondering, why? In the second half, there is a scene where Indira Gandhi starts seeing herself as an old, ugly and scary woman as a result of her inner turmoil that happens after imposing an Emergency in the country. Suddenly, I found myself taking this film not seriously at all. It’s sad how the film fails to create or leave an impact due to messy storytelling and parodic portrayal of emotions.
Direction, Camera Angles
Another aspect of the film that failed to impress me was the direction and the camera angles. Firstly, from a Director’s POV, the film has a lost direction and feels all over the place. One may question the motive of this film because, till the end, it’s hard to figure it out. The constant zoomed-in shots of the actors are too distracting.
Supporting Actors
Emergency has a very powerful and talented cast like Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Satish Kaushik and Mahima Chaudhary and each of them plays some very important political figures in Indian history. However, none of them happens to deliver a strong performance or substantially add to the narrative of the film, which is quite sad.
Directed, written, co-produced and starring Kangana Ranaut, Emergency is a film that I liked only in bits and pieces. There was a lot of untouched potential in this film and the brilliant cast was underutilized. Kangana Ranaut is impressive as an actor but as a director, she fails to deliver. Vishak Nair emerges as a strong actor in this film. The muddled narrative of the film left me disappointed. Emergency is running in the theatres, let us know how you like it!