Movie Review: Emergency (2025)

 

I watched the film ‘Emergency’ (2025) recently on TV. This is the famous film made by Kangana Ranaut based on the life of late PM Indira Gandhi, and had faced legal issues before its release due to some scenes including the assassination scene.

I found the movie surprisingly good. As compared to most of the other biopics on political figures, I found this one extremely well made. Although, the film tries to capture historical events which are numerous and hence it becomes a challenge to tell the “story” and keep it about the protagonist and not get lost in the historical events. Due to these challenges, I could feel that the pace of the film was slightly faster than could have been. But I know it was near impossible to depict the enigmatic life of late Indira Gandhi ji in a single film and Kangana Ranaut has done it so well!

I remember all the controversies and press reports at the time this movie was being released. I have anyway almost stopped going to the theatres for watching movies and hence I had totally skipped this one at the time it was released. Now I realise what I had missed. But better be late than never and I am happy that I caught it on TV now.

It is very rare to lead a life which late Indira Gandhi had led. Those days, our country was poor and not strong. It is really incredible how our great Prime Ministers of those decades led our country so well. Despite “Emergency” being the theme of this film, which is considered a blot on the face of our democracy, the film does capture many more important events from the history of our country which I have read about and hence was able to relate well. Though I was not aware that Indira Gandhi was arrested by the Janata Party led Govt at the centre and later released due to public pressure. There are many more aspects shown in the film which I have read in newspapers and magazine articles, and the film has very honestly shown those without malice or political colouring. For example, the depiction of Sanjay Gandhi and his role prior to and during the Emergency of 1975. Vishak Nair, the actor who played the role of Sanjay Gandhi has given a really remarkable performance. So has Milind Soman in the role of Army Chief Sam Manekshaw. I was expecting this movie to be all about Kangana Ranaut, as the Press often depicts her, but found that the film will be memorable due to many such actors and characters, and not only for her.

It is very rare to remain relevant and enigmatic all through our life. It is also very rare for one’s death to match the enigmatic life one has led. Mahatma Gandhi had a glorious death matching his life, and perhaps the other person would be Indira Gandhi. I was a very small kid when she was killed, and I still remember the morning. I was at my hometown, standing in front of our house, when the news had broken about her death. I remember that my grandfather, father and uncles were all talking about it. Like most noble families those days, I guess my grandfather and his family were her supporters too. I have some visuals of that morning still in my mind. It is said that kids smaller than 5 do not remember much from their childhood. I don’t know how rare it is, but I have vivid memories of that day. It is a shame that this great film was marred into controversy for depicting her assassination which is very sensibly covered.

This film has tried to depict the complex personality and psychology of Indira Gandhi. I have read many articles where journalists and authors have written that it was very difficult to characterise her. She was not a simple person. And this film has attempted a near impossible task of capturing some of the complexities of her mind and her life. The movie makers get full credit for it.

I highly recommend this film for one and all. And I wish our nation is slightly grateful for the great political leaders we have had in the past.

- Rahul

 

 

 

 

Swiped (2025) and the Evilness of Workplace Harassment

 

Watched ‘Swiped’ (2025), a film based on the life of businesswoman Whitney Wolfe. I was not aware what the movie was about before I started watching it and later discovered that an integral part of the movie’s plot was about workplace sexual harassment. The movie genuinely depicts the scenarios of workplace harassment which women face, as well as the working environment in the tech startups. Although, no movie can do 100% proper judgement to all the characters and all the events, so the movie can also be accused of showing a one-sided story from the point of view of the lead character Whitney. But being a biographical film, this comes hardly as a surprise.

When Whitney joins the startup, and she was not a coder or a software engineer or big marketing name; she joins from the scratch. The credit to spot talent in her goes to one of the founders, Sean. And for a while, everything goes in a dream-like fashion. She is happy at work, is appreciated by all, and the company gets its mojo and everything is going great. But then, she starts dating another co-founder named Justin. The movie does not even show a hint that there was anything objectionable in a “workplace romance”. And thereby, it tries to hide a very pertinent truth about the whole scenario about to unfold.

Workplace romance is riddled with dangers, that is why most good companies have a policy against it. It is a recipe of disaster. Whiteney and Justin are dating and in love, and it is not kept a secret. After a while, the real face of Justin starts showing off, as he starts taking credit for her work, starts sidelining her and pushing her away from the media limelight. Perhaps, he was cunningly aware of what was going to happen after the two broke up. The decision to break up was taken by Whiteney after she had had enough of sidelining by Justin. Things go totally downside after they broke up, with Justin showing totally abusive behaviour by harassing and defaming Whitney. I wondered what Whitney was thinking when she went on that road of workplace romance. Men are typically known to be sore losers when it comes to handling rejections from women they like.

Later, the whole story shows how Whiteney fought against the system which is against women as well as anyone who takes a stand against the workplace harassment. It is an inspiring story of how Whiteney goes on standing for what is right. But it is more of an inspiring story because of the fact that Whiteney did not go down fighting and goes on to achieve greater success in her career. And when a tricky situation comes again in the next company she joined, she still stands tall. Hats off to Whitney Wolfe and her inspiring courage.

At the same time, I can’t stop but reflect on the root cause of all the harassment she was subjected to, which was workplace romance to begin with. In one of my previous companies where I witnessed absolutely toxic work culture, workplace romance was not only tolerated but even ‘encouraged’. There was a policy banning it, but the management just went around the policy by changing the official reporting manager of one of the couples, to avoid detection. I knew of many colleagues, who went on to marry other colleagues, only by seeing the encouragement of this practice. I believe it was purely incompetence and a decision not to take a stand, which made the senior management not respect the company policy of not allowing workplace romance.

The truth is that workplace romance and workplace harassment go hand in hand. Male employees, often in superior positions in the company, if faced with rejection by attractive female employees in junior positions, are inclined to harass them until they are forced to resign or go emotionally broken. Whiteney Wolfe was able to come out unscathed, and the movie shows the harassment situations very well. She went through hell and came out safe, but unfortunately not all are strong enough like her. And even if one woman is subjected to harassment at workplace, it is a failure of the whole company’s policies and the senior management who are supposed to uphold the values.

I feel like wishing that may there be more Whitney Wolfes in the world, but I know this would be a wishful thinking. Laws and polices are designed to protect the weakest in the community; and the fact that the strongest ones come out unscathed of the hostile situations does not mean slacking the rules. Multinational companies are seen to be often lacking stricter enforcement of policies and rules because of lack of accountability of the senior management who know their ‘time is ticking’ and would be out of the door in a few years. So, why take stands and try to improve the workplace environment for the employees, and why not spend most of the time just to improve the company’s performance in the stock market, which is most rewarding for them.

Workplace harassment should be taken more seriously by all companies as well as by the lawmakers of every country. And when it comes to harassment as an aftermath of workplace romance, the only way to prevent it is not to go down the lane in the first place. I am of the opinion that everyone should maintain a purely professional relationship at the workplace, for one’s own safety and for the safety of others.

- Rahul

Nature: Flowers of September

 

Travelogue: Patna Airport

 

Travelogue: Ramachandra Shahi Museum, Muzaffarpur, Bihar

This museum was established by the antique collections and efforts of late Ramchandra Shahi from Shahi-Minapur in Muzaffarpur, by his son Dr. Vijay Kumar Shahi in the memory of his father. Ramchandra Shahi was born in year 1912 in the Shahi-Minapur village of Muzaffarpur and he had special interest in collecting antiques and historical objects and he had established a museum there in the memory of his father late Brajbhushan Shahi. The current museum building was constructed by the govt and municipal corporation in 1987 and inaugurated by Bihar Chief Minister Bindeshwari Dubey on 23^rd of May, 1987. 

Entry to this museum is free of cost and you just have to make an entry in the visitors register. The museum is in a big hall on the ground floor which is air conditioned. There are 3-4 people available all the time to watch over the historical artefacts and will go with you if you are visiting there. And they will instruct you not to take photographs of any of the items. The pictures of artefacts shown above are taken from public sources on the internet.

- Rahul 

A Beautiful Bicycle Ride

 

Bicycles are special for children, and I am sure we all have some very nice memories associated with bicycles from our childhood. I used to have a small, beautiful, green tricycle when I was very small, a cherry red Avon bicycle with two side supporting wheels later, and I got a proper Hero Hansa bike when I went to the high school. But I shall share my memories later. Recently I saw something which was more than curious.

In the morning, a man was riding his bicycle with only one hand on the handle. With his other hand, he was holding a small kid of one or two, perhaps his son or daughter. The kid was standing on his lap and was enjoying the ride from there very confidently. I could notice that the kid was dark skinned, had been given a bath, wore a new bright red cloth, and his hair was oiled and fixed with a small “Rasna Choti”.

I wondered where the man was taking his kid in this manner. After some time, I saw him returning after having taken a U-turn, meaning it was just a casual stroll to entertain the kid before he went to work. As the man rode the bicycle, occasionally he would turn towards the kid and kissed him on his cheek. The whole scene was so heartwarming that would melt even a stone.

I don’t know if the kid would remember this when he would grow up, since he was very small, and how his relationship with his father would be after growing up. Life is full of ups and downs and we can’t say “happily ever after” for everyone. But I hope the kid would grow up to be a little grateful and loving, the way he received love from his father.

- Rahul

 

The Samosa Seller

 

In my hometown, I had gone to a neighbouring sweets shop after a long time. I found that while other sweets were handed over to the customers inside the shop, for samosas we were asked to take from the outside stall. When I went to the stall, I saw that there was a small boy of about 10 years old packing and handing over samosas. When I visited the shop the next time, it was the same arrangement. But this time I noticed that the boy was not only packing and handing over samosas, but also frying it in a big iron kadhai.

Since samosas are typically consumed as evening snack, and by evening the weather is already tolerable, it was fine that day. But when I went there for third time, it was day time and hence sunny. Even during the daytime, the same boy was making samosas, frying it in kadhai, packing and giving away to the customers who paid for the same inside the shop. I was shocked to observe that there was no real roof above stall since the stall was made outside the shop. The boy was standing in partial shade and partial sunlight and making samosas whole day. This time, the boy was appearing weak, perhaps he was not keeping well at that time. His hand was shaking while picking up hot, fresh out-of-pan samosas.

I felt really bad this time seeing this child-labour happening in front of me. When I went home, I told my mother about all this. She gave an instant solution by asking never to buy anything from that shop again in future. After doing a little ponding if that will benefit or harm the kid, since such situations are complex in real life, I concluded that it was a better idea not to buy from that shop. I did not want to inform the government authorities because child labour cases are rampant all across our hometown and if I complained about that shop, the boy may just get employment somewhere else.

I can remember boys of similar age working at kirana shops, welding shops, painting shops, etc. Even in the 21^st century and amidst so many claims of good governance, this child labour is happening rampantly. And in most of the cases I can see only boys and not girls working in such shops. When people talk about “male privilege” etc on social media, they forget to check real life on the ground. It also reminds me that many people like us take childhood for granted, believing it is always beautiful for all of us, without being aware of many such kids who skip whole childhood for a few rupees. Thanks to human greed which has no limits.  

After that incident, I have been to the sweets shop area and purposely avoided that shop once. I plan to continue doing the same in future. It may not improve the overall situation in the city, but at least I can feel a bit better that I am not part of it.

- Rahul