‘PM Narendra Modi’ Critics Review: A Farcical Hagiography at Best

The biopic on Modi released on 24 May.

A poster for PM Narendra Modi.

(Photo Courtesy: Panorama Studios)

Film: PM Narendra Modi
Director: Omung Kumar
Cast: Vivek Oberoi, Boman Irani, Darshan Kumaar, Zarina Wahab

Read excerpts of reviews from PM Narendra Modi here:

“Much of the film is so preposterous, so blatantly absurd that one can only laugh at the utter disregard for truth. Then again, that is the very reason it should be feared, the fact that it is openly and callously cheerleading a fictitious narrative and shoving it down our throats. A film that highlighted Modi’s many actual achievements may have been compelling, but this is far more insidious. This is the cinematic equivalent of a Whatsapp forward, something that will find believers regardless of what the truth has to say.”

Raja Sen, Hindustan Times

“There is something to be said about the considerable time devoted to explaining Modi’s controversial handling of communal riots in Gujarat in 2002 and his packaging as a hero for religious minorities. The presence of a television channel owner who, in collusion with the Congress party, might have orchestrated the 2002 riots in Gujarat and influenced the decision of the United States to deny Modi a visa in 2005, makes for a fascinating conspiracy theory. When a Muslim man pretends to be a Hindu during the 2002 riots and shouts “Jai Shri Ram” to save his life, the irony goes unnoticed.” 

Nandini Ramnath, Scroll

“PM Narendra Modi, is not a biography. It is an unwittingly farcical, comical hagiography of Narendra Modi and the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), and even that is a euphemistic description. To put it simply, this is a highly fictionalised account of the present Indian prime minister’s life. Omung Kumar’s recall value so far has come from the vastly superior Priyanka Chopra-starrer ‘Mary Kom’ (2014) and the embarrassingly bad Aishwarya Rai Bachchan-starrer ‘Sarbjit’ (2016). PM Narendra Modi falls into the so-bad-it-could-be-fun category, except that it is not fun at all – it is, instead, an insult to viewer intelligence and viewer knowledge.”

Anna MM Vetticad, Firstpost

“And speaking about the opposition, the director and team unsurprisingly show Manmohan Singh, Sonia and Rahul Gandhi as caricatures. They basically look like they moved from the sets of The Accidental Prime Minister to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.The film is poorly edited, with Modi’s stunning rise chronicled in a way reminiscent of bad Powerpoint presentations and the performances, especially Oberoi’s, is laughably bad. He neither looks like Modi, sounds like him or even tries to emulate any of his mannerisms.”

Ankur Pathak, The Huffington Post