After news broke out that Kangana Ranaut’s film Emergency will not be releasing on September 6 as it has not been cleared by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), the actor has now reacted to the development and said that ironically an “emergency” has been put on her film and that she is “disappointed with the country.”
“Meri film pe hi Emergency lag gayi hai. Bahut hi nirashajanak ye sthiti hai. Main toh khair bahut hi zyada disappointed hu apne desh se, aur jo bhi haalaat hain (An Emergency has been imposed on my film too. It's a very hopeless state. I'm quite disappointed by our country and whatever the circumstances are),” Kangana said at Shubhankar Mishra’s podcast.
Kangana added that she is being singled out as the events she has shown in the film have already been depicted in movies like Madhur Bhandarkar’s Indu Sarkar (2017) and Meghna Gulzar’s Sam Bahadur (2023). She added that while she'd already gotten her film certified by the CBFC, her certificate was revoked after review because of multiple petitions.
“We'll keep telling those ridiculous stories otherwise. We'll get scared by someone today, someone else tomorrow. People will keep scaring us because we get scared so easily. How much will we keep getting scared? I've made this film with a lot of self-respect which is why the CBFC can't point out any contention. They've stalled my certificate, but I'm determined to release an uncut version of the film. I'll fight in court and release an uncut version. I can't show all of a sudden that Indira Gandhi died on her own at her home. I can't show it like that,” she added.
Outrage against the film began when the film’s trailer was released recently, which contained some portions that were deemed objectionable by the Sikhs. It contains a part where late Khalistani leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale says to a political leader, “Your party wants votes, and we want Khalistan.” Sikh groups contend that such a demand was never made by him.
Apart from the Sikh groups, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) joined the call for banning the film. And the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) sent a legal notice to the producers of the film, demanding the removal of the objectionable scenes.