Won't back off from The Accidental Prime Minister': Anupam Kher

Mumbai: Calling "The Accidental Prime Minister" his "life's best performance", actor Anupam Kher on Friday said he will not back off from the snowballing controversy over the film on former prime minister Manmohan Singh.

The actor, who plays the title role in the movie, also took a swipe at Maharashtra Youth Congress' threat to stop the release unless it is first shown to them, saying they should be happy a film has been made on their leader.

"I am not going to back off. This is my life's best performance. #DrManmohanSingh will agree after seeing the film that it is a 100% accurate depiction," Kher tweeted. The trailer of the film, based on the book of the same name by Sanjaya Baru who served as Singh's media advisor 2004 to 2008, was released here on Thursday. It depicts Singh as a victim of Congress' internal politics ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

The trailer drew sharp reactions from the Congress, which dubbed it a "propaganda film".

The party's Maharashtra youth wing wrote a letter to the producers of the films to demand a special screening.

"They should be happy that a film has been made on their leader. They should bring the crowd to watch the film as it has dialogues such as 'Will I sell my country?' which shows how great Manmohan Singh ji is," Kher told television channels.

"The more they protest, the 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," he said.

Kher also referred to Congress president Rahul Gandhi's recent statement that freedom of expression is a fundamental right. This was in response to a party leader objecting to the language used to describe his father, former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, in the Netflix series "Sacred Games".

"I had read Rahul Gandhi ji's tweet where he spoke about freedom of expression. So I think he should scold these people and tell them they are doing wrong."

BJP's official Twitter handle has shared a link to the trailer. "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 'The Accidental Prime Minister', based on an insider's account, releasing on 11 January," the party said.

Responding to the BJP, Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said on Twitter that "such fake propaganda" by the party would not stop it from asking the Modi government questions on "rural distress, rampant unemployment, demonetisation disaster, flawed GST, failed Modinomics, all pervading corruption”. Singh evaded questions on the film at the Congress' foundation day function at the party headquarters on Friday.

National Conference leader Omar Abdullah also tweeted on the film, saying, "Can't wait for when they make The Insensitive Prime Minister. So much worse than being the accidental one."

Directed by Vijay Ratnakar Gutte, ‘The Accidental Prime Minister’ stars Kher as Manmohan Singh and Akshaye Khanna as Baru.