Rating:
2.0/5
Star
Cast:
Anupam
Kher,
Akshaye
Khanna,
Suzanne
Bernert,
Aahana
Kumra,
Arjun
Mathur
Director:
Vijay
Ratnakar
The
Accidental
Prime
Minister
Movie
Review:
Anupam
Kher
|
Akshaye
Khanna
|
FilmiBeat
In
one
of
the
scenes
in
Vijay
Gutte's
The
Accidental
Prime
Minister,
Dr.
Manmohan
Singh
(Anupam
Kher)
asks
his
media
advisor
Sanjaya
Baru
(Akshaye
Khanna)
why
he's
doing
so
much
of
drama.
Well,
that's
exactly
the
thought
which
goes
through
your
mind
while
watching
this
film
based
on
Baru's
memoir
on
the
former
Prime
Minister
by
the
same
name.
The
film
opens
with
the
victory
of
Congress
party
in
2004
elections
under
the
leadership
of
Sonia
Gandhi
(Suzanne
Burnert).
While
her
advisors
want
her
to
assume
office
as
PM,
she
decides
to
step
aside
and
nominates
economist
Dr.
Manmohan
Singh
as
the
Prime
Minister
instead.
From
thereon,
we
get
a
closer
look
at
what
happened
behind
the
doors
through
Baru's
eyes
where
he
describes
how
Manmohan
Singh
was
consistently
undermined
by
Sonia
Gandhi
and
her
loyal
group
of
leaders
during
his
ten-year
tenure
in
the
UPA
government.
The
first
half
of
the
film
is
a
light-hearted
take
on
the
power-play
in
the
world
of
politics
and
how
Manmohan
Singh
tries
to
tackle
every
challenge
with
the
aide
of
Sanjaya
Baru
who
advises
him
on
the
mechanics
of
building
image
and
writes
speeches
for
him.
Post
interval,
things
take
a
sobre
turn
where
Baru
talks
about
how
Mr
Singh's
silence,
his
loyalty
to
the
Party
President
and
'hereditary
succession' made
him
a
subject
of
mockery.
Later,
he
became
a
soft-target
when
he
turned
a
blind
eye
to
corruption
by
his
colleagues
(2G
scam,
Coalgate
scam)
as
he
expected
the
Party
President
to
deal
with
the
black
sheep
in
the
UPA-2
government.
This
turned
out
to
be
his
fatal
error
of
judgement.
Finally
when
Manmohan
Singh
declared
his
departure
as
the
Prime
Minister
in
a
2014
press
conference,
his
words
were,
"
I
hope
history
will
be
kinder
to
me
than
the
contemporary
media."
Vijay
Gutte's
direction
is
inconsistent
and
the
writing
too
lacks
depth
with
the
sloppy
screenplay
running
all
over
the
place.
Instead
of
'humanizing' Manmohan
Singh
so
that
the
audience
can
connect
with
his
emotions,
the
film
turns
out
to
be
a
mockery
of
sorts
with
its
characters
simply
reduced
to
caricatures.
Speaking
about
the
performances,
Anupam
Kher
shines
throughout
and
internalises
Manmohan
Singh's
body
language
perfectly.
Right
from
his
gait
to
his
whispered
talks,
the
veteran
actor
pulls
off
a
commendable
job.
While
Akshaye
Khanna
as
the
narrator
looks
smart
in
his
tailored-suits,
the
constant
smirk
on
his
face
throughout
the
film
leaves
you
wondering
about
the
reason
for
the
same.
Suzanne
Burnert
looks,
speaks
and
even
expresses
like
Sonia
Gandhi
and
her
uncanny
resemblance
adds
to
the
perfect
casting.
Aahana
Kumra
as
Priyanka
Gandhi
barely
gets
a
scene
or
two.
Arjun
Mathur
as
Rahul
Gandhi
is
convincing.
The
camera-work
of
the
film
has
nothing
new
to
offer
while
the
editing
slips
out
of
the
place
in
few
shots.
The
jarring
background
music
plays
a
major
spoilsport
and
hampers
the
narrative.
There's
a
dialogue
in
the
film
where
Anupam
Kher's
Manmohan
Singh
says,
"Mujhe
koi
credit
nahi
chahiye,
mujhe
apne
kaam
se
matlab
hai
kyunki
mere
liye
desh
pehle
aata
hai."
Well
in
the
film,
it's
Akshaye
Khanna's
Sanjaya
Baru
who
grabs
the
spotlight
from
Singh
as
he
is
portrayed
as
the
key
player
in
all
the
important
moments.
Maybe,
Baru's
writing
is
got
to
be
blamed
for
this!
I
am
going
with
2
stars.