'The Accidental Prime Minister' on screen: Producer Sunil Bohra acquires rights to film on Manmohan Singh

Manmohan Singh’s former media adviser, Sanjaya Baru, had published a book titled The Accidental Prime Minister: The Making and Unmaking of Manmohan Singh in 2014, and now producer Sunil Bohra has acquired the film rights for the book, which was released  around the general elections last year. [caption id=“attachment_2265652” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Former prime mnister Manmohan Singh. AFP[/caption] Speaking to Economic Times, Bohra said, “My sole intention is to make a movie covering the 10 most crucial years (from 2004 to 2014), which changed the political spectrum of our country and fortunes of India’s oldest political party - the Congress,” adding, “My movie will be denuded of any political agenda and bereft of any political leanings. It will be a true reflection of what has been authored by Mr Baru in his book.” When the book was released, there was speculation that it would be a criticism of the Congress govt, and even though the book chronicles the 2G spectrum, Commonwealth Games and coal block allocations, Baru has gone on record to state that his book is actually in defence of the ex-prime minster. “The chapters 1 to 13 are the strongest defence of the Prime Minister. I challenge a book which seeks to offer a stronger defence. This book is a defence of his prime ministership … Somebody had to stand up and defend this old man,” said Baru, in this Times of India interview. Contractually, Bohra has been asked not to add anything new to the script, and he plans to keep the film “apolitical”. Bohra Bros. Production Pvt. has close to 150 films to its credit, such as Gangs of Wasseypur, Tanu Weds Manu and Sahib Biwi aur Gangster. The film is expected to release at the end of 2018.