The ruling party tweeting the official trailer of the film 'The Accidental Prime Minister' has stirred up a hornet's nest for Congress.
The Bharatiya Janata Party, in what seemed like a promotional message, tweeted about the trailer on Friday night. "Riveting tale of how a family held the country to ransom for 10 long years. Was Dr Singh just a regent who was holding on to the PM’s chair till the time heir was ready? Watch the official trailer of #TheAccidentalPrimeMinister, based on an insider’s account, releasing on 11 Jan," said the tweet.
This 'stunt', however, has not gone down well with the Opposition, which has been criticising the trailer for the manner in which the former PM has been portrayed. The movie also shows Rahul Gandhi and former party chief Sonia Gandhi in a bad light, Congress said.
The party on Friday dismissed reports that the Kamal Nath government was considering a ban on the film in Madhya Pradesh.
Surjewala, the Congress spokesperson, said that the state government has taken no such decision. He further accused the Centre of trying to divert the public attention from real issues .
Anupam Kher after the release of the trailer said the film is a "game changer" in political biopics as it does not shy away from taking real names. "More they protest, more publicity they will give to the film. The book has been out since 2014, no protests were held since then, so the film is based on that," the actor said.
In an exclusive chat with ANI, the actor said, "If we make a film on the issue of Jallianwala Bagh or the Holocaust or any historic incident, we can't change the facts. That's what we have done here."
Echoing his thoughts with Kher, filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar said, "It’s a Déjà vu moment for me. Last year Indu Sarkar, my movie on emergency, was agitated against, across the country. The film is based on a book, nobody protested against the book while it was in public domain."
The information and broadcasting minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore on being asked why the trailer was shared from the BJP handle said, "Can’t we extend our wishes for a film? Congress has been all for freedom, why is it questioning that freedom now?"
The official trailer of the film, based on the book with the same title written by Sanjay Baru, former prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh's media adviser, was released on Thursday night. While Anupam Kher is essaying the role of Dr Manmohan Singh, Akshay Khanna will play Sanjay Baru. It is scheduled to hit the screens on January 11.