Kangana Ranaut's latest directorial venture, Emergency, picked up pace at the domestic box office over the weekend, after a lacklustre opening on Friday. The historical drama trumped Abhishek Kapoor’s period piece Azaad, which marked the Bollywood debut for Ajay Devgn’s nephew Aaman Devgan and Raveena Tandon’s daughter Rasha Thadani.
Released on January 17, Emergency delves into the life of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and the 1975 Emergency period. It opened with Rs 2.5 crore nett on Friday. It saw a 44 per cent jump on Saturday with earnings of Rs 3.6 crore nett, followed by a further boost on Sunday, bringing in Rs 4.35 crore nett.
The three-day collection of Emergency at the Indian box office now stands at Rs 10.45 crore nett, as per industry data-tracking portal Sacnilk.
Starring Kangana Ranaut in the lead role as Indira Gandhi, Emergency also features Anupam Kher, Milind Soman, Shreyas Talpade, Mahima Chaudhry, and Vishak Nair in pivotal roles.
In contrast, Abhishek Kapoor’s Azaad, which also hit theatres on January 17, is struggling to attract audiences. The debut film of Aaman Devgn and Rasha Thadani managed to collect just Rs 4.65 crore nett over its first three days, as per Sacnilk.
The film opened with a collection of Rs 1.5 crore nett on Friday. The daily collection of the film dipped on Saturday to Rs 1.3 crore nett, and finally saw a slight rise on Sunday to Rs 1.85 crore nett. The period drama, featuring Ajay Devgn in a pivotal role alongside Diana Penty, also stars Mohit Malik, Piyush Mishra, and Natasha Rastogi.