Emergency box office collection on its first day: Kangana Ranaut's long-awaited debut as a solo director premiered in theatres this Friday. According to Sacnilk, the film had a modest opening but ultimately achieved Kangana's highest box office debut in five years since the pandemic.

Emergency's opening

Emergency debuted with an impressive ₹2.35 crore on Friday. This opening marks the highest for Kangana's solo films over the past five years. In contrast, her previous release, Sarvesh Mewara's 2023 aerial action film Tejas, garnered ₹1.25 crore on its opening day at the domestic box office. Additionally, her 2022 action movie, Dhaakad, directed by Rajneesh Ghai, recorded ₹1.20 crore on its first day.

Before these films, another political biopic, AL Vijay's Thalaivii (2021), which chronicles the life of the late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, achieved an opening day collection of ₹1.46 crore across its three language releases: Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi. Kangana's largest opening prior to Emergency occurred in January 2020, just before the pandemic led to cinema closures when Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari's sports drama Panga opened to ₹2.70 crore.

About Emergency

The political drama features Ranaut in the role of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and centres on the 21-month period of Emergency from 1975 to 1977. The film, which has faced controversy regarding its censor certificate and accusations of misrepresenting the Sikh community, was released nationwide on Friday after multiple delays.

In August of the previous year, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) issued a legal notice to the film's producers, claiming that it inaccurately portrayed the character and history of Sikhs, and requested the removal of scenes deemed to express "anti-Sikh" sentiments.

On Thursday, SGPC President Harjinder Singh Dhami contacted Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, urging a ban on the film, which premiered across the country on Friday. Numerous cinemas in Ludhiana, Amritsar, Patiala, and Bathinda opted not to screen Emergency following protests from SGPC members. Law enforcement was stationed outside malls and cinemas throughout the state.

On Friday, Kangana expressed that the SGPC's call for a ban on Emergency and the film's limited screenings in certain areas of Punjab constitute a significant harassment of "art and the artist."

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