Kangana Ranaut’s much-anticipated political drama, Emergency, has had a lackluster performance at the box office despite the Republic Day 2025 weekend providing a slight boost. The movie, set to a backdrop of the 1975 Emergency and the controversial Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s rule, has bombed at the box office and poor receipts have not only been the margin of the producers, but also been causing sufficient damage to the actors who have burdened with heavy working hours.
Emergency’s Box Office Performance
Despite high expectations and a strong marketing campaign, Emergency managed to collect only ₹14.3 crore* in its first week at the India box office. The film, which had been positioned as a major political drama with historical significance, struggled to gain momentum after its opening weekend.
With these numbers, Emergency has surpassed the lifetime earnings of Akshay Kumar and Emraan Hashmi’s film Selfiee, which had a disastrous run, ending at ₹17.03 crore* at the India box office. Nevertheless, this comparison is of little comfort, because Emergency is underperforming to a much greater degree than average.
Sky Force Continues to Dominate
In sharp contrast, Veer Pahariya’s debut film Sky Force has been a surprise blockbuster at the box office. The war-action drama, soaring at a robust start even before Republic Day itself, is slowly moving towards the ₹90 crore goal in India.
The film’s daily collections have been as follows:
- Day 1 (Opening Day): ₹12.25 crore
- Day 2: ₹22 crore
- Day 3: ₹28 crore
- Day 4: ₹7 crore
- Day 5: ₹5.75 crore
- Day 6: ₹5.75 crore
On the basis of these figures, Sky Force has generated a combined collection of ₹80.75 crore in India till its first week, which is one of the leading box office hits of 2025 to date.
The Story Behind Emergency
Shot by Kangana Ranaut, Emergency is a historical-political drama which explores the much debated 21-month period of the 1975 Emergency ordered by Indira Gandhi. The movie tries to trace the circumstances which lead the Indian political scene of that period.
The star-studded cast includes: The star-studded cast includes:
- Kangana Ranaut as Indira Gandhi
- Anupam Kher
- Milind Soman
- Mahima Chaudhry
- Vishak Nair
- Late Satish Kaushik
Although the film presents itself with an engaging plot and a great cast, it could not procure an audience’s emotional response and has, as a result, shown a disappointing result at the box office.
What Went Wrong for Emergency?
A number of factors may have played a role in the poor box office of Emergency*.
- Lack of Mass Appeal: Although the movie deals with an important historical period in India, political thrillers generally face difficulty in attracting the general public in comparison to commercial movies.
- Competition from Sky Force: The war action-adventure, despite strong performances, has managed to draw in audiences and secured a significantly larger portion of the box office receipts.
- Mixed Reviews: Although Emergency has been applauded for its performances, a few critics have criticized its stories and speed which could have impacted its word-of-mouth marketing.
- Limited Repeat Value: All this while, unlike action blockbusters or mass entertainers, political dramas generally avoid multiple viewership, a r[a]nging factor affecting revenue in the long run.
Can Emergency Recover?
Given its steep decline in daily collections, Emergency is unlikely to recover from its slow start. Barring a sudden surge of momentum in the next few weeks, the film is set to close out with box office lifetime takings below average.
As of now, Sky Force is still having a strong following and it seems clear that at this moment, audiences have the inclination towards action-packed, patriotic story-lines over politically charged ones.
While Emergency is on the verge of sinking, the industry will be watching keenly to see whether the tide turns in favour of actor-turned-director Kangana Ranaut and if her upcoming ventures will provide a letup or not if this proves to be another box office disappointment for Kangana Ranaut as an actor and director.
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