Emergency: Multiple Delays, CBFC Row To Censorship, Kangana Ranaut's Film Controversies And Release Timeline Detailed

Emergency is headlined and directed by Kangana Ranaut. After multiple delays, the movie is scheduled to finally hit the big screens on January 17. The political drama documents the 21 months of Emergency imposed in 1975 by the then-prime minister, Indira Gandhi. Ever since the announcement of the movie, it has run into several controversies from CBFC approval to delay in release. Amidst the delay, Kangana Ranaut has also given multiple provocative statements that made headlines for the movie. However, is this enough to make it a hit?

January 2023: Emergency filming concludes
 

The principal photography of the Kangana Ranaut directorial commenced in July 2022. The entire filming of the movie concluded in January 2023. The actress shared at the time that Emergency will hit the big screens on November 24, 2023. However, it did not release as scheduled.

November 2023: Emergency's original release date
 

Days before the scheduled release of the movie, Kangana Ranaut took to her X (formerly Twitter) account to share that Emergency will not released on November 24, 2023, as planned. She cited ‘back-to-back releases’ and ‘packed last quarter’ as reasons behind the postponement. It was assumed that the release of the film was pushed to avert competition from December releases like Animal, Dunki and Sam Bahadur. Announcing the delay, the actress had a writer at the time, "My heart is full of gratitude and wherever I go people ask me about Emergency's release date. We have announced the Emergency release date as 24th November 2023 but because of all the changes in my back-to-back releasing films calendar and the over-packed last quarter of 2024 we have decided to shift Emergency to next year (2024)."

January 2024: New release date for Emergency announced 
 

Kangana Ranaut began the New Year 2024 by announcing the new release date for her film. The actress attended the Ram Lalla's Pran Pratishtha ceremony in Ayodhya and later announced the new release of her movie on social media. She shared that the political drama will now be released on June 14, 2024.

June 2024: Emergency postponed again 
 

On May 15, 2024, the production house for Kangana Ranaut's Emergency, Manikarnika Productions announced that the movie will not be released on June 14 as scheduled. The decision was taken in the wake of the General Lok Sabha Election 2024. Around this time, the actress also pivoted into a career in politics and fought her first election from Mandi as a Bharatiya Janata Party’s candidate. The post read, “Our hearts are filled with love for our queen Kangana Ranaut. As she prioritises her duty to the nation and her commitment to serve the country, the release date of our much-awaited film Emergency has been postponed. We promise to update you soon with a new release date."

September 2024: Emergency runs into trouble with CBFC 
 

After multiple delays, the Kangana Ranaut finally set its sights on the September 6 2024 release. However, days before the film was about to hit the big screens, the actress shared that the movie had not received clearance from the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) yet. This gave rise to one of the major controversies regarding the film's release. As per Emergency makers, the certification board stressed trimming and modifying some crucial parts of the movie. The issue came to light after a Sikh religious body objected to the portrayal of the community in the film's trailer.
 

Due to non-compliance from the makers, the CBFC did not certify the movie for release. This even led to a legal battle between both parties. This inadvertently led to a further delay in the movie.

January 2025: Emergency to finally hit the big screens 

After a tussle with the CBFC, the Emergency filmmakers ultimately made the modifications requested by the certification. With trims and edits, the Kangana Ranaut film received a U/A certificate. After much delay, the movie is finally scheduled to release on January 17, 2024. It will hit the big screens alongside Azaad, Badass Ravi Kumar and Loveyapaa.

Provocative statements made by Kangana Ranaut during the promotion of Emergency 

It has been a long-standing strategy for filmmakers to stir controversy before the release of their films to get the audience talking about it. However, thanks to Kangana Ranaut, Emergency did not require such orchestrations. The actress who is known to not mince her words has made some brazen statements during the promotions of films that grabbed headlines.
 

In a latest interview with PTI, Kangana Ranaut caught attention for her comments deeming other directors unfit for working with her. She said, “I'm very proudly saying that today there is not a single director in the film industry that I want to work with because they don't have that kind of quality… that I feel that they deserve me."
 

Following the statement, she also called the former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, on whom Emergency is based a 'weak leader'. She shared how her thoughts about her changed while working on the film and said, "She (Indira Gandhi) was a very weak person and she was also very unsure of herself and really vulnerable. She had many crutches around and she was constantly seeking a kind of validation. She was also hugely dependent on many people, one of them was Sanjay Gandhi. I didn't have that kind of empathy for her before Emergency."


In the same conversation, she admitted that the cuts made by CBFC do not impact her film, as it spells only the truth. The actress shared, "As the film is not made with that intention, even if that was removed, it doesn't impact my story. I was completely devastated. I thought maybe it would never see the light of the day. Because there was earlier a film on Mrs Gandhi called Kissa Kursi Ka. I thought maybe it was jinxed or something that you can't make a film on her... And I had also put some investments into it. There were a lot of issues, obviously, I was disheartened."
 

Earlier, Kangana Ranaut said that she was 'disappointed' with the state of affairs in the country when the film had to face delays due to CBFC. She said, “Meri film pe hi Emergency lag gayi hai. Bahut hi nirashajanak ye sthiti hai. Main toh khair bahut hi zyada disappointed hu apne desh se, aur jo bhi haalaat hain (An Emergency has been imposed on my film too. It's a very hopeless state. I'm quite disappointed by our country and whatever the circumstances are)”.“I've made this film with a lot of self-respect which is why the CBFC can't point out any contention. They've stalled my certificate, but I'm determined to release an uncut version of the film. I'll fight in court and release an uncut version. I can't show all of a sudden that Indira Gandhi died on her own at her home. I can't show it like that."
 

Emergency stars Anupam Kher as Jayaprakash Narayan, Shreyas Talpade in the role of a young Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Milind Soman as Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, Mahima Choudhary as Pupul Jayakar and late Satish Kaushik in the role of Jagjivan Ram. It is produced by Manikarnika Films.