Bollywood has produced several hard-hitting political dramas and documentaries surrounding the lives of renowned politicians of the country, but The Accidental Prime Minister, a film based on the book by Sanjaya Baru is one of its kind.
The plot of the film
is centered on the nomination of Dr. Manmohan Singh, a former economist as the
Prime Minister of the nation amidst the skepticism surrounding Sonia Gandhi’s candidature. The story reveals the dark and intense phase of India Politics or
rather the Party (Congress) Politics wherein the elected Prime Minister is reduced
to a puppet in the hands of the party, mainly the party chief, Sonia Gandhi.
The film touches upon keystone topics including scams, political drama and the
dirt that has wholly engulfed politics.
Casting &
Characters
The characters of the film are in striking-resemblance with the real-life politicians. Anupam Kher’s acting is in complete resonance with Dr. Singh’s mild and soft-spoken demeanor along with his peculiar gait.
Anupam Kher’s
commendable acting is complimented by every other character, who have been so
perfectly cast, namely the German Actress, Suzanne Bernet, who plays Sonia Gandhi
with absolute semblance in spirit and an enduring personality.
The roles of Rahul
and Priyanka Gandhi don’t have much to contribute to, but their nearly real-life
appearance adds to the essence of the drama. Casting of characters that look
and behave just Politicians and Ministers like P Chidambaram and Atal Bihari
Vajpayee adds a touch of authenticity to the plot of the film.
Narration
The entire narration
of the film has been undertaken by Akshay Khanna, who also plays the role of Sanjaya
Baru, the media advisor to the Prime Minister who constantly strives to maintain
a favorable image of the PM.
The film unfolds all incidents
as have been mentioned in the book, along with boldly coining the names of all
politicians, ministers and industrialists, who had in some way contributed to
the nomination, sustenance, or scornful treatment of the PM, in his 10-year
long tenure, from 2004 to 2014.
The overall narration
of the film has been undertaken with utmost seriousness and gravity, which is quick
to strike a chord with the audience, especially those with a deep inclination towards
modern-day politics and political drama.
The film is more of a
documentary with little or no climatic scenes, twists or turns. The impeccably
stoic and at times a witty narration holds the attention of the audience, which
is probably the only motivation to sit through the film for someone who
possesses zero-knowledge of politics.
Scope For
Improvement
While the execution,
casting and narration strongly compliment the storyline, one can point out a
few negatives in the course of the film.
For someone with a
basic or zero-knowledge of politics and milestone political events or scams, the
movie would make little sense. Although the nuclear deal with the US has been
specifically stressed on along with furnishing the audience with galore information
on the same, there are several other significant scams like the Coal Scam or
the 2G/3G scams that only appear as cursory mentions.
As an anticipator of a political drama film, I had expected a little more in terms of Dr. Manmohan Singh’s portrayal out in the public domain and not merely restricted to the four walls of his office.
Dr. Singh’s significant contribution in building the
nations economic policy has also very conveniently been left out. He indeed was
a man of “Few Words”, but at times the depiction portrayed him to be a man of “No
words”.
During the course of
the film, it also seems that the plot shifts from the accidental Prime Minister
to the contribution of the media advisor, Sanjaya Baru and his strife against the
unjust portrayal and demeaning treatment of Dr. Singh.
Overall Feedback
The movie is a fairly
accurate depiction of the dirt and hypocrisy that surrounds politics.
The depiction of how “One-family”
has ever since dominated the field, reduced their party members to puppets and
have taken decisions based on private interests has been illustrated with
utmost finesse and precision.
Had the film focused
gravely on the role of Dr. Manmohan Singh and his persona, along with a greater
focus on defining individual characters, and an aim to inform rather than
entertain with superfluous drama, the movie would have done far better in the
box office.
However, the movie is a fairly good one-time watch for anyone even remotely interested in politics, drama and what has been portrayed as the media advisor, Sanjaya’s truth.
Written By - Tushna Choksey
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