Rudra Production (U.K.), Bohra Bros. and Jayantilal Gada’s The Accidental Prime Minister is the story about the two-term tenure of former Indian Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh. It is based on the book of the same name, written by his then media advisor, Sanjaya Baru.
The story starts in 2004 when the UPA alliance was voted to power. Sonia Gandhi (Suzanne Bernert), as president of the Congress Party, announces the name of Dr. Manmohan Singh (Anupam Kher) as Prime Minister of India. Soon, renowned political journalist Sanjaya Baru (Akshaye Khanna) is called in and appointed as the PM’s media advisor. Sanjaya Baru’s first condition, while accepting the job, is that he would be answerable to the PM only. Some officials, who are close to Sonia Gandhi, resent Sanjaya Baru’s closeness to the PM but there’s little they can do because the PM not only likes Baru very much but also gives him quite a free hand. As time progresses, Baru’s worst fears come true – the shots are being called by Sonia Gandhi while Dr. Singh intentionally doesn’t assert himself. To Baru’s disgust, the PM is so loyal to Sonia Gandhi that he doesn’t even object when he is made a scapegoat or made to look like a fool in the eyes of the media and public. Dr. Singh’s philosophy of ‘country first’ defines his every move. His other unspoken philosophy is to not go against the party president, Sonia Gandhi, or her family.
A stage comes when Baru is forced to resign. By now, the world has realised that Dr. Manmohan Singh is like a puppet in Sonia Gandhi’s hands. It is time for the 2009 elections and it is apparent that the Gandhis want Rahul Gandhi to become the Prime Minister. Circumstances, however, force Dr. Singh to once again take charge as the Prime Minister. But the sailing this time, too, is far from smooth for Dr. Manmohan Singh. Baru is called once again to assist the PM. And once again, he witnesses the turmoil within the party. In 2014, Baru writes a memoir and lays bare what he had seen while he was with the PM. The book alleges that Dr. Singh was not entirely in control of his cabinet or even the Prime Minister’s Office, and was more or less carrying out Sonia Gandhi’s orders.
The story, written by Mayank Tewari, Vijay Ratnakar Gutte, Karl Dunne and Aditya Sinha, about the internal tensions within the Congress Party is well-known and well-documented and hence it doesn’t offer much that’s unknown. In that sense, there’s absolutely no element of suspense because everything that unfolds is already in the public domain. Even that may not have been a major minus point provided the drama had been narrated in an exciting fashion but that’s not the case. However, about that later. The screenplay, also penned by the four jointly, also lacks thrill. The writers, perhaps, seem to have been so bogged down by the need to be true to the book that they were probably scared to even dramatise some scenes or sequences, which is so necessary when one is writing for a film. Consequently, the screenplay looks like a recounting of a book or novel. This is definitely not the way to write a screenplay if the film is meant to appeal to a large section of the audience. In the present format, the screenplay appeals only to the politically aware and politically inclined audience while actually getting boring and irritating for the large mass base.
The screenplay completely lacks the emotional quotient and becomes a flat drama or a linear recounting of events. What’s more, the story has appeal for such a limited audience that the weak screenplay would further restrict its appeal. However, it must be added that the same screenplay would get a nod of approval from that section of viewers, which prefers realistic cinema.
Dialogues (by Mayank Tewari, Vijay Ratnakar Gutte, Karl Dunne and Aditya Sinha) are fairly good but they needed to be punch-packed.
Anupam Kher does well as Dr. Manmohan Singh. Akshaye Khanna is excellent in the role of Sanjaya Baru. However, his regular talking into the camera does get irritating sometimes. Suzanne Bernert shines as Sonia Gandhi. Arjun Mathur is so-so as Rahul Gandhi. Aahana Kumra resembles Priyanka Gandhi but she gets almost nil scope in a special appearance. Vipin Sharma makes his presence suitably felt in the role of Ahmed Patel. Prakash Belawadi is effective as Mike. Divya Seth Shah lends decent support in a special appearance as the PM’s wife. Anish Kuruwala stands his own as Nair. Shiv Subrahmanyam leaves a mark. Bobby Pervez (as Pulok Chatterjee) has his moments. Subhash Tyagi (as Mulayam Singh) and Manoj Tiger (as Amar Singh) are natural. Hansal Mehta (as Naveen Patnaik), Vimal Verma (as Laloo Prasad Yadav), Kishore Jaykar (as George Fernandes), Ram Avtar (as Atal Behari Vajpayee), Anil Rastogi (as Shivraj Patil), Ramesh Bhatkar (as Prithviraj Chavan) and the others are adequate.
Vijay Ratnakar Gutte’s direction is quite flat. He has treated the film like a documentary more than a feature film, because of which the drama doesn’t offer much excitement to the audience. Music (Sudip Roy, Sadhu S. Tiwari and Sumit Sethi) is good as the end titles song is interesting. Lyrics (Vaidyanath Mishra and Baba Nagarjun) are good. Sumit Sethi’s background music is average. Sachin K. Krishn’s camerawork is reasonably good. Production designing (by Paul Rowan and Tarpan Shrivastav) is okay. Praveen K.L.’s editing leaves something to be desired.
On the whole, The Accidental Prime Minister is a documentary-style entertainer which has limited appeal. It will do well in select multiplexes and high-end single-screen cinemas in some cities. It will appeal to the politically aware audience but will not find favour with the youth. Its English title (especially the word ‘Accidental’) will intimidate the non-English speaking public.
Released on 11-1-’19 at Regal (daily 1 show) and other cinemas of Bombay by PEN India Ltd. Publicity: fair. Opening: so-so. …….Also released all over. Opening was ordinary at many places, and fair at a few places.