Ashoke, Anupam On ‘The Accidental Prime Minister’ Controversy

Anupam Kher says he will not back off, as Congress demands a screening of the film ahead of its 11 January release.

Bollywood reacts to the controversy surrounding The Accidental Prime Minister.

(Photo courtesy: Twitter)

The trailer of The Accidental Prime Minister has sparked controversy with the Congress party demanding a screening of the film. The film stars Anupam Kher as Manmohan Singh, the economist and politician who served as the Prime Minister of India from 2004 to 2014 under the United Progressive Alliance and is based on the eponymous book by Singh's media advisor Sanjaya Baru.

Co-producer of the film, Ashoke Pandit spoke to The Quint about the controversy ahead of its release.

“We’re very clear on what we have made. And this (reaction) is very normal, we expected that. We aren’t surprised. This film is made on a very serious note. A film which will a new era of filmmaking, as far as political films are concerned. We see such films abroad, in Hollywood, and there we get these kind of reactions. The only institution answerable is the CBFC”.

Ashoke Pandit

Pandit relegates such reactions to both ends of the political spectrum. “They’re all the same when it comes to their area. What Congress is doing to our film today, that’s what BJP did to Padmavati,” he said.

Pandit also pointed out that the Congress did not ban or object to the book on which the film is based.

“We’ve been working on this script for 2 and a half years. We’re not here to demean anyone. I really can’t understand, why didn’t they object to the book? They read the book, it’s in the market, it’s a bestseller. Why make so much noise on the film?”

The filmmaker added that they did not expect Madhya Pradesh to demand a ban on the film.

“No we didn't expect it. If the government bans it, then they have no right to talk about the present regime's intolerance. Now for us, every political party is the same,” he said.

Pandit said that they have already got a certificate from the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) and request political parties to leave the industry alone.

Anupam Kher, who plays Manmohan Singh in the film, also took to Twitter to add that he is not going to “back-off”.

Filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar, who faced trouble during the release of his film, Indu Sarkar also reacted to the controversy surrounding The Accidental Prime Minister.

“It’s a déjà vu moment for me, last year Indu Sarkar, my movie on emergency was agitated against, across the country, film is based on a book, nobody protested against the book while it was in public domain,” he said to ANI.