The Accidental Prime Minister: Anupam Kher draws polarised reactions from politicians, film industry

_The Accidental Prime Minister_ , the Vijay Gutte directorial based on the 2014 memoir of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh by Sanjaya Baru, has courted controversy ever since its trailer was launched. The trailer sparked controversies as many claimed that the filmmakers had resorted to distortion of facts. [caption id=“attachment_5799381” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Anupam Kher as Manmohan Singh in a still from The Accidental Prime Minister. YouTube[/caption] Now that the film has hit screens, several politicians and members of the Hindi film industry have reacted to the Anupam Kher-Akshaye Khanna-starrer. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that if a film is being made about The Accidental Prime Minister, soon another film would be made which would be called “The Disaster Prime Minister”

#NewsAlert -- If ‘The Accidental Prime Minister’ has been made into a movie, the day is not far when another movie will be made; it will be called ‘The Disaster Prime Minister’, says @MamataOfficial. | #BattleOf2019 pic.twitter.com/eEhUSiZSiU

— News18 (@CNNnews18) January 11, 2019

As per News18, Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala called The Accidental Prime Minister a part of fake propaganda by the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the 2019 general elections. The same report quoted Pankaj Pachauri, the media advisor of Manmohan Singh who took over the advisory role from Baru, as saying that not only the book but also the film is a work of complete fiction. “It’s fiction turned into fiction,” he told News18, adding that it was the work of people with “low calibre and intellect”.  The head of BJP’s Foreign Affairs cell, Vijay Chauthaiwale, said he “felt sorry” for Manmohan Singh.

Watched #AccidentalPM last night. Felt sorry for Dr MMS. He was the most helpless, incapable and powerless PM India ever had. 10 Janpath was real villain. As a result, India lost 10 precious years. Lessons to be learnt from history.

— Dr Vijay Chauthaiwale (@vijai63) January 11, 2019

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He also replied to Shobhaa De’s tweet, stating that her IQ was lower than the young voters of India.

.@DeShobhaa thinks that the young voters have IQ of Pappu. Fortunately for India, Pappu is below a stage and his followers like De ma’am have still lower. This tweet proves it. https://t.co/bUn6xQPUnn

— Dr Vijay Chauthaiwale (@vijai63) January 11, 2019

Amit Malviya, the BJP IT chief, also took to Twitter and promoted both this film and Uri: The Surgical Strike through the reduction of Goods and Services Tax (GST) on movie tickets.

Today is 11Jan. The Accidental Prime Minister and Uri: The Surgical Strike are releasing.

Plan an outing with the family. Now

- Tax on restaurant bill down to 5% instead of 30% earlier
- Movie ticket taxed at 12% (upto Rs 100 or 18% for over 100), down from 28% earlier

Enjoy!

— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) January 11, 2019

Kapil Mishra, former minister in the Arvind Kejriwal government, praised The Accidental Prime Minister and said that Manmohan Singh would be seen as hero after the film.

Just watched #TheAccidentalPrimeMinister

Superb Acting by @AnupamPKher Ji

A must watch movie

this movie has many villains but definitely Dr. Manmohan Singh will be a Hero after this movie

— Kapil Mishra (@KapilMishra_IND) January 10, 2019

Shashi Tharoor, Member of Parliament and former Congress spokesperson, tweeted that “the Accidental Prime Minister” was better for the country as compared to the “Acchedin"tal Prime Minister

There's no doubt in my mind that the Accidental Prime Minister was a lot better for our country than the "Acchedin"tal Prime Minister

— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) January 6, 2019

Members of the film fraternity, including creative producer of the film, Hansal Mehta, Subhash Ghai, Anil Kapoor and Divya Dutta y praised the biopic, particularly Kher’s central performance.

Dear @AnupamPKher. Sir, it was a privilege being with you as you walked the tight rope between caricature and character while playing Dr. Manmohan Singh in #TheAccidentalPrimeMinister. Thank you sir. The audience will watch and judge our efforts today. Best wishes and love.

— Hansal Mehta (@mehtahansal) January 11, 2019

#ACCIDENTAL PRIME MINISTER 🎥

Is an excellent political drama first time in history of indian cinema
Congratulations @AnupamPKher #akshey khanna for brilliant performances and entire team for well made film with unique cinematic expression
You have to see it to believe it 🎥

— Subhash Ghai (@SubhashGhai1) January 10, 2019

What @AnupamPKher has done in playing Manmohan Singh in #AccidentalPM is to create something that could easily have become a caricature, into a breathing relatable human being that you want to reach out to and hug. That takes a lot of skill.

— Shekhar Kapur (@shekharkapur) January 10, 2019

Dear @AnupamPKher. Sir, it was a privilege being with you as you walked the tight rope between caricature and character while playing Dr. Manmohan Singh in #TheAccidentalPrimeMinister. Thank you sir. The audience will watch and judge our efforts today. Best wishes and love.

— Hansal Mehta (@mehtahansal) January 11, 2019

Watched #AccidentalPrimeMinister .the supremely gifted @AnupamPKher performs the toughest role with such elan..m speechless.respect sire and big hug! Loved the way you say https://t.co/ZCBkydQFM3 real vulnerable n yet strong. And another brilliant performance by #akshaye khanna!

— Divya Dutta (@divyadutta25) January 10, 2019