Kangana Ranaut Compares 'Emergency' to Shakespearean Tragedies and Nolan’s 'Oppenheimer'

Kangana Ranaut is creating a buzz with her upcoming film, Emergency. She recently drew a fascinating comparison between her film and Christopher Nolan’s acclaimed Oppenheimer. Emergency, which features Kangana both as an actress and a director, delves into the historical Emergency period in India from the mid-70s. Kangana takes on the challenging role of Indira Gandhi in this ambitious project.

In an interview with India Today, Kangana explained that Emergency shares a thematic similarity with Oppenheimer. She highlighted that both films present multifaceted perspectives, leaving audiences grappling with whom to support. "I don’t know why people are so uncomfortable with truth. As if it does not stand there glaring at us evidently, and so obviously," she remarked. Kangana emphasized that her portrayal of Gandhi aims to reflect the complexity of human nature, rejecting simple dichotomies of 'good' and 'bad'.

She elaborated, “If you look from that perspective this film will open many doors for you but at the same time, a close comparison to draw with my film is maybe Oppenheimer.” Kangana elaborated, “You can’t really decide whether to root for him, whether he is getting manipulated or he is manipulative. But aren’t all of us like that? Life is not so limited. It demands you to be so much and at times to be the person you don’t want to be. That is why I call it a Shakespearean tragedy. It is so much like Macbeth. Macbeth was destined to be the king, and when he becomes the king by killing the king the dagger follows him. His conscience follows him… The idea of Emergency is that the best of us can become a victim of hubris.”

For those unfamiliar, Oppenheimer explores the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the physicist behind the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II. The film received acclaim in the US but faced criticism in Japan. Kangana’s comparison underscores her film’s ambition to present a complex and thought-provoking narrative.