After a modest opening of Rs 2.4 crore in India, Emergency, the historical biographical drama directed, co-produced, and led by Kangana Ranaut, saw a slight uptick in its Day 2 earnings.
According to Sacnilk, Emergency earned Rs 3.42 crore nett on Saturday, reflecting a 36.8% increase from its opening day. This brings its total domestic collection to Rs 5.92 crore.
The film’s occupancy rate improved throughout the day in the Hindi market, starting with just 5.95% in the morning shows. By the afternoon, the occupancy climbed to 13.99%, reaching 20.01% in the evening and peaking at 21.69% during the night shows, resulting in an overall occupancy rate of 15.41%.
The film marked Kangana’s biggest box-office opening in the last five years, following the pandemic. In comparison, Kangana’s 2023 aerial action film Tejas, directed by Sarvesh Mewara, had a modest Rs 1.25 crore opening, while her 2022 action film Dhaakad, directed by Razneesh Ghai, grossed Rs 1.20 crore on its opening day.
Another political biopic, Thalaivii (2021), directed by AL Vijay, which focused on the life of late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, had an opening of Rs 1.46 crore across its three language releases – Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi.
Kangana’s biggest opening before Emergency came in January 2020, prior to the pandemic, with the sports drama Panga directed by Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari, which earned Rs 2.70 crore.
The film chronicles the 21-month Emergency period imposed by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi between 1975 and 1977, often considered one of the darkest chapters in independent India’s history.
In addition to Kangana portraying Indira Gandhi, the film features Anupam Kher as Jayaprakash Narayan, Shreyas Talpade as Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Mahima Chaudhry as Pupul Jayakar, Milind Soman as Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, and Vishak Nair as Sanjay Gandhi.
