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Kangana ‘Emergency’ struggles with portrayal of Indira Gandhi’s complex legacy

Kangana Ranaut’s much-anticipated biographical film Emergency, focused on former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, has finally been released, but it struggles to deliver a coherent narrative. The film draws inspiration from real-life events surrounding Gandhi’s life, with an acknowledgment of creative liberties taken in its dramatization. However, the result is a confusing and at times, contradictory portrayal of one of India’s most complex political figures.

Ranaut plays Indira Gandhi, but her performance, characterized by an exaggerated voice and constant lip-pursing, feels more like a tic than a nuanced portrayal. The film swings between showing Gandhi as an autocratic leader, a weak and indecisive mother influenced by her son Sanjay, and a paranoid figure in the later stages of her career, but doesn’t fully capture the contradictions that defined her leadership.

While the film attempts to highlight significant events, such as the birth of Bangladesh and the Emergency, the portrayal feels rushed and shallow. Gandhi’s relationships with key figures, including her father Jawaharlal Nehru, and her handling of the Emergency itself, are oversimplified. Several prominent figures, like Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Jayaprakash Narayan, are underplayed, and key moments such as her trial and arrest are dealt with briefly, diluting the film’s potential impact.

Despite Ranaut’s efforts, the film’s reliance on computer-generated sequences and a focus on superficial details leaves it feeling like a caricature rather than a deep exploration of a crucial period in Indian history. Emergency falls short of being a significant portrayal of the 1975 Emergency, failing to capture the political astuteness that marked Gandhi’s leadership, especially in moments of crisis.

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