Director: Kangana Ranaut
Cast: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Satish Kaushik, Shreyas Talpade, Mahima Chaudhry
Emergency is a 2025 Indian historical drama film directed by and starring Kangana Ranaut, depicting one of the most turbulent chapters in post-independence India — the 21-month period of Emergency rule declared by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi beginning in June 1975, a defining moment in South Asian political history.
What is Emergency about?
The film opens in the mid-1970s, when India finds itself in the grip of rising political unrest, judicial challenges, and mass civil disobedience movements. At the center of the storm stands Indira Gandhi, the formidable Prime Minister facing calls for her resignation following a court verdict against her election. Her response — invoking emergency provisions in the constitution — suspends civil liberties, silences opposition voices, and reshapes the democratic fabric of an entire nation. The story follows the decisions, pressures, and consequences that unfold during those 21 months, seen through the perspective of those in power and those who resist it, without revealing how history ultimately judged these events.
Cast & crew
Kangana Ranaut both directs and plays Indira Gandhi, undertaking one of Indian cinema's most demanding dual roles. Anupam Kher, a veteran of decades of Hindi cinema, joins the cast, as do Satish Kaushik, Shreyas Talpade, Mahima Chaudhry, and Milind Soman — an ensemble drawn from some of Bollywood's most experienced performers. The film runs 147 minutes and carries the weight of its true-events source material.
Context & significance
For Persian-speaking viewers in the diaspora, Emergency carries a resonance that goes beyond its Indian setting. The subject — a democratic government suspending civil liberties and consolidating executive power under a state of crisis — is a narrative arc familiar to many Iranians who lived through or fled the consequences of sudden political ruptures in their own homeland. Watching how a powerful state actor justifies emergency measures, and how ordinary people respond, makes this Indian historical drama speak to a broad community of diaspora viewers who understand displacement, censorship, and political upheaval firsthand. The film is available on K-Time with Persian dubbing, making it fully accessible without language barrier.
Where & how to watch
Emergency is available now on K-Time with Persian dubbing. You can stream it on your browser, smart TV, or phone — no VPN needed, no geo-blocking, and no extra download required. Subscription is flexible; cancel anytime.