Kangana Ranaut's much-delayed Emergency finally arrived in the theatres on Jan 17. However, the movie got a lukewarm start. 

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Directed by Ranaut, the political drama retells the story of the 21-month-long emergency period, termed the darkest period of Indian democracy. 

Emergency box office 

The much-awaited movie opened much below the expected numbers. As per Sacnilk, the film collected around Rs 2.50 crore (Rs 25 million) on the first day.

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Despite earning decent numbers, the movie is still Kangana's biggest opening in the past five years. 

Her 2023 movie Tejas earned Rs 1.25 crore (Rs 125 million) on the opening day. Meanwhile, her 2022 action film, Dhaakad collected around Rs 1.20 crore (Rs 12 million) on day 1 at the box office.

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Emergency Vs Azaad

Apart from Kangana's film, another film that hit the theatres this week was Ajay Devgn's Azaad. The movie that marks the debut of two-star kids, Raveena Tandon's daughter Rasha Thadani and Ajay Devgn's nephew Aaman Devgn, also opened up with low numbers. 

Earning less than Kangana's movie, Azaad had earned around Rs 1.5 crore (Rs 15 million) on the first day. 

More about Emergency

Emergency, one of the first big releases of the new year, features Ranaut as former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. The film primarily focuses on the 21-month-long emergency period, termed the darkest period of Indian democracy. 

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Apart from Gandhi, the movie focuses on the crucial role played by the opposition leaders back then. In the movie, Anupam Kher plays the role of Jayaprakash Narayan, Shreyas Talpade portrays the role of former prime minister and the co-founder of the  BJP Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and Milind Soman portrays the role of Sam Manekshaw, India’s first Field Marshal.

Emergency review

Wion's film critic Shomini Sen wrote in her review of the movie, ''Kangana herself is inconsistent in her performance. In some scenes, she sounds shrill when she tries to get Mrs Gandhi's high-pitched voice but is unable to maintain it throughout. In other scenes, you get flashes of her portrayal from Woh Lamhe and Fashion, when she appears to be sacred, traumatised or simply hallucinating. With multiple long closeup shots of her face throughout the film, that make the prosthetics look awful, cinematographer Tetsuo Nagata and Kangana try hard to make us believe that she indeed is the right choice to play one of the most important and perhaps controversial Indian leaders of all time. But are we convinced? Not quite,'' read the full review here.