The Accidental Prime Minister, a movie based on a book of the same name and starring Anupam Kher as former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, is Bharata Janata Party's (BJP) propaganda against their party, Congress leaders said on Friday even as the former prime minister evaded comment on the growing controversy over the film on him.
Congress leaders said propaganda against the party would not work and the truth shall prevail.
The trailer of the film, based on the book of the same name by Sanjay Baru who served as Singh's media advisor 2004 to 2008, was released in Mumbai on Thursday.
Directed by debutant Vijay Ratnakar Gutte, and written by Hansal Mehta, the film stars Kher as Manmohan Singh and Akshaye Khanna as Baru and is slated to release on January 11, 2019.
The movie revolves around Singh's life, the economist and politician who served as the Prime Minister of India from 2004 to 2014 under the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government and is based on the book of the same name written by Sanjaya Baru, Singh's advisor.
The trailer shows Singh as a victim of the Congress' internal politics ahead of the 2014 general elections.
“Riveting tale of how a family held the country to ransom for 10 long years. Was Dr Singh just a regent who was holding on to the PM's chair till the time heir was ready? Watch the official trailer of 'TheAccidentalPrimeMinister', based on an insider's account, releasing on 11 January," the BJP said on Thursday night.
Responding to the BJP, Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said on Twitter that “such fake propaganda” by the party would not stop it from asking the Modi government questions on "rural distress, rampant unemployment, demonetisation disaster, flawed GST, failed Modinomics, all pervading corruption”.
Asked by journalists to comment on the film at the Congress' foundation day function at the party headquarters on Friday, Singh walked away without saying anything.
Congress leader and Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said propaganda against the Congress and its leaders would not work and the truth shall prevail.
His colleague, Congress leader P L Punia, accused the BJP of evading answers on its “mis-governance” after having failed on all fronts.
“This is the handiwork of the BJP. They know that time has come to give answers after completion of five years and they are now trying to divert attention by raising such issues and evade answering to the public after its government failed on all fronts,” he said.
National Conference leader Omar Abdullah also tweeted on the film, saying, "Can’t wait for when they make The Insensitive Prime Minister. So much worse than being the accidental one."
Earlier on Thursday, Maharashtra Youth Congress raised objections to the film and asserted that if the film is released without prior screening for their office bearers, they will resort to "other options" to stop the screening of the film.
In a letter to the makers of the film, the party's Maharashtra youth wing has raised objections to the "incorrect presentation of the facts" and has demanded a special screening of the film to ensure that none of the scenes is factually incorrect.
The trailer of the film was released on Friday.
"Looking at the trailer of the movie it is understood that the facts have been played with and presented in an incorrect manner with regards to Ex-Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Congress Party to malign the image of Congress Party which is not acceptable to us," the statement read.
The statement also warned the makers of the film against releasing the movie without a prior screening and review by the party. "If the said movie is released without prior screening for our office bearers and without making necessary changes recommended by us, it will be understood that you are doing this deliberately and we have other options open to stop the screening of the same across India," the statement concluded.
PTI and ANI
