A new Kangana Ranaut movie revisits the anger and anguish of the Emergency

While her film isn't the first on the issue, it remains to be seen whether it will be a path-breaker of sorts or add to heap of banal celluloid art

A new Hindi film, Emergency, directed by Kangana Ranaut and also starring her as former Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi, has run into trouble even before its release, with the Congress expressing reservations about how it portrays Mrs Gandhi. While the Emergency, a 21-month period from 25 June 1975 to 21 March 1977 when Mrs Gandhi suspended fundamental rights, imprisoned political opponents, and ruled by decree, is a significant event in India’s post-Independence history, it is somewhat of a lost moment in mainstream Hindi cinema. Only a few films — Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi (Sudhir Mishra, 2003), Indu Sarkar (Madhur Bhandarkar,