Kangana Ranaut's Emergency, recently released on Netflix, centers on a controversial figure: the late Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. She was the first woman to serve as the country's prime minister, and there was no denying that she was a figure to be reckoned with. Mrs. Gandhi's life was as eventful as a suspense thriller where no one knew what would happen next. Whether it was helping East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), taking a strong stance against Pakistan, or forcing the President of India to declare a national emergency, there was a lot for which Indira Gandhi's tenure as India's prime minister was remembered.
A film about such a personality had a lot of potential, but I felt it didn't add anything to what we already knew. Yes, Kangana Ranaut's performance is undeniably exceptional, and there are moments in the film that give you goosebumps, but Emergency didn't quite make the impact I had hoped for. I think that, in their attempt to cover all the major political and personal events of her life, Kangana Ranaut and her team missed the main plot of the Emergency. So let's find out what happened in the film, what motivated Indira Gandhi to return to politics after losing the elections, and what led to her assassination.
Director: Kangana Ranaut
Writers: Tanvi Kesari Pasumarthy, Kangana Ranaut, Ritesh Shah
Stars: Mahima Chaudhry, Anupam Kher, Kangana Ranaut
In 1966, after overcoming a series of obstacles, Indira was finally sworn in to become prime minister and remained in power for the next 12 years. In the film, we saw that she relied heavily on her son, Sanjay Gandhi, and that, out of love for him, she ignored all his misdeeds and allowed him to act according to his whims. Sanjay was seen as a spoiled rich kid, but the boy had political ambitions and wanted to one day serve as prime minister. Although he was reckless in his approach, his political acumen was undeniable.
If he had been a little more obedient, a little more caring, a little more sensitive to the plight of others, I believe things would have turned out differently for both him and his mother. There were times when Indira Gandhi needed the support of her cabinet ministers, but because of Sanjay's lack of respect, they secretly wished for his downfall. Sanjay was reckless in his approaches, and there were times when he treated his superiors and others with utter contempt. We saw how he threw away the entire breakfast plate when his eggs weren't the way he wanted them, and Indira Gandhi, instead of scolding him and asking him to be respectful, called the chef over and asked why he couldn't prepare the eggs properly. It was hard to imagine that a woman who had dealt with a superpower like the United States of America so strategically, who wasn't afraid to court controversy, who could speak head-on with world leaders, would simply allow her son to throw tantrums and act in such a disgraceful manner.
I don't know if that specific incident happened in real life, but what the filmmaker wanted to convey with it was that if Indira Gandhi had intervened and asked Sanjay to behave like a civilized person, her relationship with him probably wouldn't have deteriorated. Well, I can't say that Sanjay's actions alone caused Indira Gandhi's downfall, but they did contribute to it. Indira sought from Sanjay the love she couldn't get from her husband and father. She depended on him, and Sanjay believed that, just because he was born into a certain family, he was entitled to that position. I mean, no politician wants to give up their position; everyone craves power, but where Sanjay went wrong was in thinking that no one could ever oppose him. I think he considered the possibility of losing the election, which showed us that social welfare and the well-being of the nation were never his concern.
In the landmark judgment, handed down by Justice Jagmohan Lal Sinha of the Allahabad High Court, Indira Gandhi was found guilty of electoral malpractice, deeming her election result null and void. She was also barred from holding any elective office for the next six years. Indira Gandhi met with the President of India and asked him to declare a state of emergency. It was one of the darkest periods of independent India, and afterward, the people lost confidence in Indira Gandhi. Later, after realizing her mistakes, she decided to lift the state of emergency, despite Sanjay's staunch opposition. Sanjay didn't care about the consequences of such a debacle, as he wanted to keep his political career afloat and stay in power. He told his mother that it was political suicide, but Indira was determined to rectify her mistakes.
Indira Gandhi literally disappeared from the scene after the Indian people brought the newly formed Janata Party, led by activist Jayprakash Narayan, to power. When a return seemed impossible, Indira did something, with good intentions, that brought about a change in people's perspective. She was driving somewhere when a woman approached and asked for her help. Indira learned that many Dalit farmers had been brutally murdered by upper-caste authoritarians in the remote area. Indira, probably for the first time, did not seek political influence by helping Dalits. According to the film, she had gone to see Jayprakash Narayan, whom she considered her political nemesis, but whom she deeply admired and respected.
Jayprakash Narayan told Indira to be altruistic and work for the well-being of the nation without expecting anything in return. Those words changed something inside her. She felt like a wounded warrior seeking refuge, searching for just a shred of hope to survive and carry on. It was said that photographs of Indira Gandhi on an elephant, as she made her way into the Belchi village, created an unbearable stir for the already shaky ruling party. The Dalits present were stunned to see tears in the Iron Lady's eyes and couldn't understand why she was helping them when they hadn't even voted for her. The villagers promised they would ensure the Congress Party won the next general election and that Indira Gandhi would once again become prime minister. That was all the confidence Indira needed to fight back.
Indira realized that Jayprakash Narayan was right; she felt a gratification she had never felt before after genuinely thinking about the well-being of the people of this country. What happened next? Indira Gandhi won the people's trust and, after a landslide victory, she prepared for her second term as Prime Minister of India.
Indira Gandhi had a very aggressive attitude compared to her father. At the beginning of the film, we saw how he went to Assam and saved the city from becoming another capital of India. He knew his father, Jawaharlal Nehru, didn't want him to go there, but he still went because his intuition told him to. Similarly, after the end of the Emergency, Indira Gandhi realized that Sanjay's instincts had only caused trouble for her and the nation. She loved her son; she felt very close to him, and her love probably blinded her to the truth. Indira Gandhi distanced herself from Sanjay, and history shows that he didn't take it well. Unfortunately, Sanjay met his fateful end after losing control of his plane while attempting an extravagant stunt. The tragic news of her son's death shocked Indira Gandhi, but what made her feel even worse was that people celebrated Sanjay's death as if he were some kind of monster.
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