After essaying Rani Laxmi Bai in Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi (2019) and former Tamil Nadu chief minister J. Jayalalithaa in Thalaivii (2021), actress Kangana Ranaut is set to portray former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in her upcoming film Emergency. The actress took to social media to release a teaser of the upcoming film and her first look as the ex-PM on Thursday.
In the movie set to release in 2023, Kangana will not only step into the former Prime Minister’s shoes as an actor but also don the director’s hat.
The actress, in 2021, had shared Instagram stories of the movie’s pre-production as a part of which she underwent body and face scans. In June, she announced that BAFTA and Oscar-winning special effects make-up artist David Malinowski would be working on Kangana’s look in the film. David is known for his work in movies like Darkest Hour, Bohemian Rhapsody, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald and Wonder Woman 1984.
Kangana shared the first look in the form of a poster of the movie. The poster has the transformed image of the actress looking akin to the late leader.
Along with the poster, Kangana also shared the teaser trailer of the film.
In the trailer, a man playing the role of Indira Gandhi’s personal assistant can be seen attending a call before entering a room where the leader is seen to be standing. He asks her if the president of the United States could address her as ‘madam’ when the two leaders spoke over the phone. At this point in the teaser, Kangana turns around slowly revealing her look. She says, “America ke president ko keh dena ki mujhe mere daftar me sab madam nahi sir kehte hain. (Tell the American President that everyone in my office addresses me not as madam, but as sir)”
“Presenting ‘Her’ who was called ‘Sir’
#Emergency shoot begins”, Kangana wrote as she shared the teaser on Instagram.
The movie is set to be about the life of the first and, so far, only female Prime Minister of India. As hinted by the movie’s name, the period between 1975 to 1977 when a state of emergency was declared in the country will be an important part of the narrative.
Emergency is being produced under Kangana’s Manikarnika Films banner. While Sardar Udham screenwriter Ritesh Shah has written the screenplay and dialogues for Emergency, Kangana wrote the story of the film.
From the 1975 film Aandhi to the 2021 film Bell Bottom, the leader has been portrayed on-screen many times over the years.