The (deliberately) deceptively named "Emergency"(Hindi) should have been titled Indira but I guess that just does not draw the requisite eyeballs. It may also be the reason why we sat to the movie in an empty theater in its third week - provocative works for some but may not gel with many. For the most part the movie is highly commending of Indira (Kangana Ranaut) - her initiatives whether it be in Assam to stem refugee movement, her taking Nixon head on, Pokhran, Bangladesh related decisiveness and in general being a highly popular leader. The movie puts the bogey of emergency, mass sterilizations and Bhindranwale largely on Sanjay Gandhi (Vishak Nair) and a fragile mind of Indira at that time. Unable to deal with the pressure of a growing Janata Party and the pressure of her own delusions the Iron Lady of India caves in to a series of catastrophic misadventures that costs her her seat and eventually her life. A decent biopic for a run through history, but some overacting on the part of the lead actor takes the sheen off somewhat - the movie lacks the high quality thespianism required to pull this one off into something truly memorable
14.5/20
