Entertainment Desk:

With the release of “Emergency”, Kangana Ranaut continues her streak of box office failures. The film, a biopic of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, features Kangana in the lead role and marks her solo directorial debut.

During the film’s promotion, Kangana Ranaut revealed several details but kept silent about whether Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman would be featured. Audiences didn’t receive the answer until the movie’s release on January 17.

Recently, Indian actor Rishi Kaushik, who portrayed Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, shared behind-the-scenes photos of his transformation for the role.

In an interview with Anandabazar, Rishi expressed his surprise, saying, “I was shocked because I don’t look like Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at all.”

He shared that in 2022, Kangana’s production company had asked for some of his photos. It was only later that he found out he had been chosen to portray Bangabandhu.

Recalling his experience, Rishi said, “After being selected, I traveled to Mumbai for a day to finalise the character’s look. Once the makeup was done, I could hardly recognise myself. Even the makeup artistes said that they had achieved a 90% resemblance to Bangabandhu’s appearance.”

Kangana Ranaut has struggled at the box office in recent years, with films like “Thalaivii”, “Tejas”, and “Dhaakad” failing to perform. “Emergency” was released around the same time as Ram Charan’s ‘Game Changer” and the debut film of Rasha Thandani and Aman Devgan, “Azaad”.

Film critic Shubhra Gupta from The Indian Express rated Emergency 1.5 stars, calling it a “confused Indira Gandhi biopic” that lacks strong craftsmanship. She also noted a particularly absurd sequence where Manekshaw, Indira, and Parliament members break into a song, commenting that even Kangana’s acting skills couldn’t salvage the scene.

The film, produced by Manikarnika Films and Zee Studios, features Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Mahima Chaudhry, Milind Soman, and Satish Kaushik in pivotal roles.