It first struck me when I was reminded: How often journalists blame the desk if the celeb they have written about, calls them up and says he/she is not happy with the story they have published on him/her? I am a journalist and I know. I have goofed it up in my 18 years of journalism and passed the buck. Journalists often provide incomplete information. This is perhaps exactly what journalist Sanjaya Baru did when Dr Manmohan Singh pointed out his issues with one of his earlier stories on him.
It next struck me when Dr Singh offers Baru a job. Haven't celebs got close to journalists and swayed them into their fold? So far so good. And I fastened my seat belt. But turbulence (politics) lay ahead. Suddenly, Vijay Gutte (director) stops flying within the limits of the prescribed track, he deviates. Baru's book The Accidental Prime Minister gets modified on celluloid and the timing of the film (100 days to go for LS election) cannot be bypassed as accidental. Dramatisation, thy other name.
Sanjaya Barus's Book The Accidental Prime Minister
Anupam Kher As Dr Manmohan Singh
Anupam Kher and Akshaye Khanna shift into top gear as co-pilots steer the plane (or should we call it propaganda) ahead. Watch Kher's take-off on Singh and you will fall in love with Singh. Wonder if Baru has a smirk, but Khanna rides on his inimitable difficult-to-define constant grin in dapper blazers.
Akshaye Khanna As Sanjaya Baru
Kher is wow, Khanna is the cherry on the cake. But the film looks like a documentary in some portions. Even though Gutte is a debutant, he could have definitely done a better job with the script and screenplay especially because he had a wealth of talent under his belt. Even Suzzanne cast as Sonia Gandhi has done a fair job. Aahana Kumra is a carbon copy of Priyanka Gandhi, dialogue delivery and even gait. Arjun Mathur as Rahul Gandhi is also quite a replica of him in 2004. Full marks to Hansal Mehta for doing the majority of casting.
Arjun Mathur As Rahul Gandhi
So see it for curiosity, but whether you have decided to cast your vote for BJP or UPA in mid-2019--- you are unlikely to not notice Gutte's constant and stark hammering that Singh was a remote-controlled PM. Have you decided whom you'll cast your ballot for? Or, are you still suspended in air?
I am going with a suspended rating, TWO-and-HALF.
Image Source: Youtube/Pen Movies,snapdeal