When Kangana Ranaut announced that she would direct Emergency, many felt it might be another weapon to whip the Congress in the election year to limit the memory of the grand old party’s rule to the 21-month blot that Indira Gandhi inflicted on democracy in 1975.
After a long wait and multiple controversies, it turns out that the artist in Kangana has prevailed over the fledgling politician in her to create an ambitious biopic of the former Prime Minister, where the Emergency period is a dark chapter in her storied journey from Anand Bhawan to 1 Safdarjung Road.
However, in an attempt to find the roots of dictatorial insecurities in Indira’s psyche, the writers (Kangana and Ritesh Shah) tie the screenplay into knots. The muddled gaze results in a spiritual cousin of The Accidental Prime Minister where a biopic vilifies or dilutes its subject to serve the present dispensation.
Though the disclaimer that owns the screen for minutes says that the film is inspired by two books and the script is vetted by three historians, those who know the period and its politics will find it taking too much creative liberty with history in its pursuit to finding soft tissues in the Iron Lady and puff up her opponents and colleagues. Quotes are falsely attributed, and the well-documented role of principal players like Jagjivan Ram (Satish Kaushik, in his last performance, makes an impact) is skewed to serve the narrative.
Going beyond the Emergency period allows the makers to target Jawaharlal Nehru as well. Reducing him to an insecure person, the writers invent fissures between an aging father and the emerging daughter over Assam during the Indo-China War. Curiously, the confident Indira suddenly seems indecisive when Kangana puts a halo around Atal Bihari Vajpayee (Shreyas Talpade) and Sam Manekshaw (Milind Soman) during the Bangladesh War. When the two even break into a song, the facade of a historical gets tattered. The music and compositions are lyrical, though.
The storytelling perks up when the film has to put Indira in a dock — like when she reaches out to Jayparakash Narayan (Anupam Kher) and J Krishnamurti to find a way out of her self-created mess– but when she is in a commanding position, veteran Tetsuo Nagata’s camera gets as paranoid as Kangana’s fidgety facial muscles, and the credit is shared.
As an actor, Kangana continues to impress. She looks the part, and there are moments where she recreates Indira’s charisma, nervous energy, and the twinkle in her eye. She is imposing and playful in her conversation with President Nixon and impressive in the passage when a sense of guilt and paranoia fills her. But, without a clear vision, the effort gradually reduces to a decent imitation of what seems like a recreation of a string of archival videos. There are passages where the fretful look, the whining, and the squeaky voice sound as superficial as the conflict in the story that lacks heft and context for Kangana, as the director, follows the approach of a ready reckoner to depict the period. Yes, the same old frowning Yahya Khan, the friendly Mujibur Rehman, and some bloodshed in between.
There is hardly any attempt to put the events leading up to the Emergency in perspective. We miss the Machiavellian leftist side of Indira that she employed in style to crush the Syndicate within the party. The film keeps talking about Gudiya has found a voice but doesn’t care to show how. The Green Revolution, nationalisation of banks, and abolition of privy purses don’t make it to the script or, for that matter, the failed motto of garibi hatao.
Moreover, the film doesn’t map the rise in crony capitalism, corruption, and unemployment that perhaps contributed to the decline in Indira’s popularity even after the decisive victory in the 1971 elections, followed by the creation of Bangladesh and the Pokharan Nuclear Test. It sticks to a simplistic narrative of parivarvad where Sanjay Gandhi (Visakh Sen is impressive) comes across as a one-dimensional villain and Indira as a doting mother blind to the misadventures of her son who took the hell path in the name of beautification and population control. But by holding him responsible for serenading Bhindranwale, the film puts a little too much in Sanjay’s basket. In the process, it almost absolves Indira to pave the way for her second innings when she gets off the tiger of hubris to mount a real elephant in Belchi and wins the hearts of the poor farmers, who coin a slogan: ‘Aadhi roti khayenge, Indira Ko Layenge’ (Will eat half-a-bread but will vote for Indira) She has to end as a winner to set the agenda for today.
It might not work for those who have learnt their lessons from Whats App after 2014, but those looking to cherry-pick from the past to create an atmosphere for one nation, one leader, and one slogan might find the spectacular symbolism worth emulating.
Emergency is currently playing in theatres
Published – January 17, 2025 06:39 pm IST