The Accidental Prime Minister Movie Review: Directed by Vijay Ratnakar Gutte, The Accidental Prime Minister starring Anupam Kher as former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is the big release today. Watch the film at your own risk, says our movie review.
Movie Name:
The Accidental Prime Minister
Cast:
Anupam Kher, Akshaye Khanna
Director:
Vijay Ratnakar Gutte
Akshaye Khanna, who plays Sanjaya Baru in The Accidental Prime Minister, says, “Sachchai ko likhna itihaas ke liye bohot zaroori hai.” In the same breath, he professes to not know all the facets of the truth or even how many facets the truth has.
Directed by Vijay Ratnakar Gutte, The Accidental Prime Minister, based on the book of the same name by Dr Manmohan Singh’s former media advisor Sanjaya Baru, comes across as a half-truth and full propaganda against the Indian National Congress ahead of the 2019 general elections.
“Mujhe toh doctor saab Bhishma jaise lagte hai. Jinme koi buraai nahi hai, par family drama ke victim ho gaye. (I think Dr Manmohan Singh is like Bhishma from the Mahabharata. He had no vices, but became a victim of family politics),” a character says in the film.
Over and over, it is emphasised how the “family”, referring to the Nehru-Gandhi family, controlled everything, from the making of policies to ‘deciding the legacy’ of former prime minister PV Narasimha Rao, with an iron fist.
The Accidental Prime Minister revolves around Dr Manmohan Singh’s two-term tenure as prime minister and how he was controlled by then-president of the Congress, Sonia Gandhi.
The timing of The Accidental Prime Minister is anything but accidental. With the Lok Sabha polls just around the corner, the hardly-veiled attack on the face of the Congress, Rahul Gandhi (played by Arjun Mathur), could not be better timed. Rahul is portrayed as a bumbling novice to the point of mockery; in one scene, Arjun Mathur is seen comically gulping when faced with a difficult question on a television interview.
Anupam Kher tries very hard to get the physicality of Singh right, but exaggerates the gait and the wispy voice to the point that it becomes a parody. It is extremely disappointing to see an actor of his stature reduce the role to a caricature. Akshaye Khanna does a decent job as Baru.
Suzanne Bernert is a dead ringer for “Madam”, as Sonia is referred to in the film, and delivers dialogues with a cold, expressionless visage.
Sonia’s political secretary Ahmed Patel is reduced to a scheming villain, and Vipin Sharma sniggers his way through the part. Aahana Kumra as Priyanka Gandhi has a blink-and-miss appearance in the film.
The Accidental Prime Minister tells us nothing that we do not already know. For a film that promises to give the audience an ‘inside view’ of the political turf war in the PMO, it barely scratches the surface. The India-US nuclear deal, 2G scam, Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption hunger strike and Coalgate find a place in The Accidental Prime Minister, but are merely glossed over.
Though The Accidental Prime Minister is devoid of songs, the blaring background score can get jarring after a point.
Vijay Ratnakar Gutte’s The Accidental Prime Minister is so unsubtle in its disdain for the Nehru-Gandhi family and the Congress, that it could almost pass off as a creation of the social media cell of the ruling party.
Directed by Vijay Ratnakar Gutte, The Accidental Prime Minister starring Anupam Kher as former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is the big release today. Watch the film at your own risk, says our movie review.
