2002 Riots, Mrs Gandhi, Modi’s Marriage: Director of PM Biopic

Omung Kumar’s take on the propaganda in the film.

Omung Kumar tells us about what attracted him towards the film.

(Photo: The Quint)

PM Modi’s biopic has been in the news for a while now. From being called a propaganda film to its casting, there is no dearth of news on it. Before its release, The Quint spoke to the director of the film Omung Kumar on the criticism towards the trailer, his political views and why Vivek Oberoi was cast.

A major criticism for the film has been that it has whitewashed the PM’s life and decisions and called it blatant propaganda. Omung’s reaction to this was, “I basically don’t go into whether it is a propaganda film or if that’s what you are trying to say. So I don’t go into that, when I choose a subject I want it to stand out from a shelf, I like ‘zero to hero’, I like inspiring stories and maybe biopics are meant to do that. And here is the biggest inspiration of all, the first time in history of a living Prime Minister, somebody is making a film. The timing and all is separate, I don’t deal with that. “

He added,

People will always have something to say, but for me when the trailer released yes people liked it and not. Also for me it is criticism well taken.

Omung Kumar, Filmmaker

When asked about why Vivek Oberoi was cast in the film he said, “Vivek is such a fantastic actor and he’s completely dedicated. Never seen an actor like that, completely engrossed. Then when I stepped out of the vanity van and said that Vivek will play, I googled to see what it would look like, he has been approached before also, 4 years back I didn’t know that. When I saw both of them together in a picture, I said who put these up before? So somebody else also had thought about it. When we started doing the look and all he just fit into the character completely for me.”

PM Narendra Modi is slated to release on April 5.

Camera: Vinay Kumar Pandey
Video Editor: Veeru Krishan Mohan