Emergency (2025)

Do you understand crash course? Consider it a quick revision of the entire preparation done for a subject or a very serious effort done in a short span of time to give an overview of a subject. The film 'Emergency' is one such. It seemed that this is another film made by the combined efforts of Zee Cinema and Kangana Ranaut in which the past governments will be slandered, some pages of history will be rewritten and the film will move forward on a predetermined agenda. But, surprisingly, Kangana Ranaut has not done anything like this in this film. This may also be a big reason for the delay in the release of the film. If this film had been released before the elections, it would have definitely benefited the Congress. Those Congressmen who do not know about Indira in detail should definitely watch this film and every awakened citizen of the country should watch this film to see how a woman named Indira Gandhi, born in this country, drew the outline of a new country on the world map under the nose of the world's leading powers.

What happened in the neighboring country Bangladesh on 15 August 1975 that shook Indira Gandhi to the core and what were the conditions in India in those days that made Indira Gandhi feel that the lives of her entire family could be in danger? Was the cancellation of Indira's election the reason for imposing emergency in the country or were there other factors behind it? Did Indira's son Sanjay instigate her to do so? And was it because of this that when Indira Gandhi became the Prime Minister again after the fall of the Janata Party government, it became difficult for Sanjay Gandhi to even meet his mother? There are many such questions. In every scene. This is the story of 12-year-old Indu's plea to her grandfather to expel her aunt from the house to Indira Gandhi's statement in her last rally that 'every drop of blood will be useful for the country'. It is a good story. It is a good film.

There is a slogan in the film 'Emergency' - 'Aadhi roti khayenge, Indira ko wapaas laayenge'. This is the slogan in a country where free wheat is now being distributed to more than half of the population. This film has every aspect of politics by following which all the subsequent leaders have learned the ways of presenting themselves in newspapers and media. Was Indira Gandhi's reaching a village in the forest sitting on an elephant a media event deliberately made or was it a spontaneous event? Ignoring the quick wit of Indira who had asked to get the piece of cake served during dinner with the President of France packed and going to meet JP Narayan who had called her 'doll', the undercurrent of the country's politics that changed after that is such that anyone who has even a little understanding of the country's politics can get goosebumps many times while watching this film.

Hardly anyone would have had high expectations from Kangana Ranaut about this film. Even the BJP leaders who have watched it are talking more about that part of the film where the atrocities committed during the Emergency are discussed, but this part is only a few minutes long in the film. If the name of the film was 'Indira' instead of 'Emergency', then perhaps the film would not have been discussed so much. From 'Indu Sarkar', which tried to present Indira Gandhi's image in a new light, to 'Emergency', Indira Gandhi's character has seen a complete cycle. 'Emergency' can be considered the most authentic film that has come close to impartiality among all these. Neither is it a paean to Indira nor a blind criticism of her. And, by meeting this one criterion, this film not only becomes watchable, but is also praiseworthy.

As a story writer, director and actress, Kangana Ranaut has poured out all the cinema she has learned so far in the film 'Emergency'. Since the story tries to cover all the important events related to Indira Gandhi's life from 1929 to 1984, its pace is very fast. The scene on the screen changes in the blink of an eye. But, the new generation should definitely watch this film especially so that they can understand the importance of Indira Gandhi. They can understand that a Prime Minister of this country refused to bow down to the open threats of even the President of America and it will be surprising if Kangana Ranaut does not get the National Film Award for the acting she has done in these scenes. Kangana has lived almost 25 years of Indira's life on screen. Her acting has come out very natural even in the scene where she is shot by Beant Singh and Satwant Singh and Kangana has done wonders in the scene where Sanjay Gandhi attacks her.

As a writer, director and lead actress, Kangana Ranaut gets 100 out of 100 marks, but the 40 marks that are cut from the film are because of Anupam Kher and Shreyas Talpade. Both of them did not do justice to the roles of JP Narayan and Atal Bihari Vajpayee. After Kangana, the second best actor in acting here is late actor Satish Kaushik who has given a heart touching performance in the role of Jagjivan Ram. There are also expectations from Vishak Nair who plays Sanjay Gandhi. When Indira refuses to meet Sanjay, the dialogue between Vishak Nair and Darshan Pandya who plays RK Dhawan is also worth noticing. Darshan looks exactly like RK Dhawan throughout the film. The prosthetics of the film are commendable. The makeup is commendable. The music side is very weak. So weak that no one felt the need to check whether the full name of the lyricist is written correctly in the credits or not. Tetsuo Nagata has shot the camera. By taking charge of the film, he has supported Kangana shoulder to shoulder in the film.