This Indira Gandhi biopic is a drab history lesson

AFTER a long tussle with the Censor Board, Kangana Ranaut's Indira Gandhi biopic Emergency finally sees the light of day.

- KARTIK BHARDWAJ

\Coming from a BJP MP, it is a sincere yet inept attempt to humanise the former prime minister. The flaws of the film aren't ideological but technical. As the director and lead actor, Kangana tries to unfold the complexities of a towering figure in Indian political history, but what she lacks are skill and dexterity. There is vision but not the lens to capture it.

The film is a mishmash of ideas and events strung together, resulting in a disjointed narrative. It proceeds linearly, going over the life of Mrs Gandhi as if marking bullet points, never stopping to ponder. Thankfully, Emergency isn't trying to rewrite history, but it also isn't anything more than a retread of history.