Accidental Prime Minister

"Accidental Prime Minister"

Watched Hindi movie 'Accidental Prime Minister', directed by Vijay Ratnakar Gutte and starring Anupam Kher (Manmohan Singh), Akshay Khanna (Sanjaya Baru), Suzanne Bernert (Sonia), Aahana Kumra (Priyanka), Arjun Mathur (Rahul) and Vipin Sharma (Ahmed Patel). Story is by Sanjaya Baru. This movie released in Jan 2019. The movie is about 2 hours long. I watched this film on 16th Jan 2019 with Jayant & Sameer.

This movie is based on Sanjaya Baru's book by the same name. Dr. Manmohan Singh was not supposed to be the Prime Minister, but became Accidental Prime Minister. The movie is about reign of Dr. Manmohan Singh as Prime Minister of India for 2 terms (10 years). The events that happened and the way he responded to the events. 

When you make a film that involves real life characters, it's very important that the selected actors have a physical resemblance to the real life figures. Full marks to the casting director and director of the movie for selecting correct actors. In most of the cases, just the appearance is enough to identify the character. It also saves movie time. The only character that did not resemble the real life figure was Rahul.

All the actors in this film are accomplished actors. The movie has lot of characters, so each character gets very little screen time. The actors and director deserve credit for ensuring that each actor and character gets it's due. Anupam Kher and Akshay Khanna excel. You don't think you are watching actor Anupam Kher. You feel you are watching Dr. Manmohan Singh. What better compliment can an actor get?

I have read the book earlier. It's neither very dramatic nor is it controversial. So I was curious how the director has maintained the drama in movie. What I realised, while watching the movie, is that politics is inherently so dramatic that the director needs no additional efforts on that front. Additionally, since audience was witness to these events few years ago, there is a touch of nostalgia to it too. 

Since director had to cover a long period and numerous events, he has adopted a unique style of narration. Rather than narrating a story, he narrates flashes of events using the character of Sanjaya Baru as anchor. If not done correctly, this style can create discontinuity. But director handles it very well. 

The only thing that I found not up to the mark was the sets. The set of hall where PM takes oath and the set of PM office appeared utilitarian rather than elegant and impressive. 

Recommend watching this movie.