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Coomi Kapoor accuses Kangana Ranaut’s Manikarnika Films and Netflix of distorting facts in “Emergency,” breaching their contract, and including historical inaccuracies.
Emergency stars Kangana Ranaut as former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. (Photo: X)
Kangana Ranaut’s Emergency has landed in trouble once again. Author Coomi Kapoor has accused the actress’ production house, Manikarnika Films Private Limited, and Netflix of “intentionally and maliciously distorting facts”. As reported by PTI, Kapoor sent out a legal notice to Manikarnika Films and claimed that Kangana Ranaut’s production house has “blatantly breached” the contract. She claimed that the film’s team exploited her name by claiming that the movie is based on her book, ‘The Emergency: A Personal History’.
“My daughter is a lawyer, so on her advice, I had included two clauses. While the producers had full artistic freedom to create the film, nothing should be altered that contradicts historical facts that are publicly available,” Kapoor stated.
“The contract also stated that the author’s name and book could not be used for promoting or exploiting the film without prior written consent. I was in Goa and had not seen the film at the time, believing that they would honour the contract. But they are still claiming that the film is based on the book,” she added and revealed that even though she has sent two notices, neither Kangana nor her production house has reacted to it as of now.
The author further pointed out that at the time of signing the agreement, she was told that only a specific chapter on former prime minister Indira Gandhi from her book would be referenced for the film. However, she was shocked to find that the film’s title was very much similar to that of her book.
“This now appears to be a deliberate attempt on part of you to get traction for the said film, especially since it had been subject to uncomplimentary remarks,” her legal notice said.
Kapoor also claimed that Kangana’s Emergency contains numerous historical inaccuracies. “Factually, the Emergency was not removed till after Mrs Indira Gandhi lost the general election in March 1977,” the legal notice added.
Kapoor has demanded immediate compensation for the severe reputational, professional, emotional and financial damage suffered by her due to the filmmakers’ reckless and illegal conduct. “If you fail to comply, our client reserves the right to initiate legal proceedings to seek appropriate remedies for this egregious violation of her rights,” the notice said.
Released on January 17, Emergency stars Kangana Ranaut as former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Kangana is not just playing the lead in Emergency but has also directed it. The film explores the 21-month Emergency imposed by Gandhi, from 1975 to 1977, often referred to as the darkest chapter of independent India.
Besides Ranaut, Emergency also stars 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.
(With inputs from PTI)
