Noted journalist, The Indian Express columnist and author Coomi Kapoor intends to file a law suit against a film production company owned by actor and Bharatiya Janata Party member of parliament Kangana Ranaut’s family film production company, Manikarnika Films Private Limited and streaming platform Netflix, notes The Hindustan Times (HT) of April 23, 2025). She accused them of "contractual breaches and tarnishing her reputation by saying their film Emergency is "based on her book The Emergency: A
Personal History,” Kapoor’s 2015 book which chronicles the 1975-77 Emergency era.
She alleged the film contains "glaring historical inaccuracies” that contradict her work, mislead viewers and damage her credibility as a scholar and writer. HT reached out to Netflix and Manikarnika Films but the two had not responded till the time of going to press.
"Kapoor said in 2021 Ranaut’s brother, Aksht Ranaut of Manikarnika Films, approached her for the rights to adapt a single chapter from her book focused on (former Prime Minister) Indira Gandhi. A tripartite agreement was signed between Kapoor, Penguin (the publisher), and the production house, with Kapoor’s lawyers inserting clauses to protect her work, the writer said. The contract mandated that the film’s content align with historical facts in the public domain and barred the use of Kapoor’s name or book title for promotion without her written consent. Despite this, Kapoor said, she was never consulted on the script and discovered only after the film’s Netflix release on March 17 this year that it prominently credited her book as its basis.
Top, r: author Coomi Kapoor; above: poster of film Emergency
"The movie’s disclaimer on Netflix said, ‘The film is inspired by the book The Emergency by Coomi Kapoor and Priyadarshani by Jaiyanth Vasant Shinde. The disclaimer then towards the end says, the film Emergency is based on the books” by the two authors.
Kapoor said she had messaged Aksht on WhatsApp in 2023 "to insist the term ‘based on’ not be used. Ranaut assured compliance but never shared the script or responded to follow-ups,” Kapoor was quoted by HT. When the film was initially released in theaters on January 17, 2025, Kapoor said "she was travelling and relied on reviews that noted a disclaimer about being ‘inspired by’ her book. Later, when she watched the Netflix version, Kapoor said she discovered the claim of it being ‘based on’ her work. They ignored everything I wrote and presented rubbish,” Kapoor told HT. The HT clipping was sent to Parsiana by reader Gulu Ezekiel.