First day first show: Politicians react to Accidental Prime Minister

While several reviews said there was nothing accidental about Accidental Prime Minister starring Anupam Kher and Akshaye Khanna, politicians read more into the film based on former prime minister Manmohan Singh.

While several reviews said there was nothing accidental about Accidental Prime Minister starring Anupam Kher and Akshaye Khanna, politicians read more into the film based on former prime minister Manmohan Singh.

Police personnel keep vigil on the first day of screening of 'The Accidental Prime Minister' in Bhopal on Friday. (PTI)

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee questioned the timing of the release of the film which is based on a book by Sanjaya Baru, hinting at the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

In a sharp swipe at current PM, Narendra Modi, she said, “If there is a movie on Accidental Prime Minister then there should be a movie titled as Disastrous Prime Minister. This will be made in the future. No one will be spared.”

Banerjee said the Anupam Kher-starrer distorted facts and remarked that “All are accidental prime ministers”.

“The Accidental Prime Minister” is based on a book of the same name written by Sanjaya Baru on Manmohan Singh’s term as prime minister from 2004 to 2014. Baru was Singh’s media adviser when the latter was the prime minister. The film hit the screens on Friday.

“We have never seen such a confused prime minister ever. Be it demonetisation or GST, what came out of it? Nothing. And they call someone else ‘accidental PM’,” he said.

He was speaking on the CBI probe against him into the sand mining scam in 2012-2013 while he was the chief minister and mining minister of UP.

Apart from the political jibes, in Delhi, the youth wing of Shiromani Akali Dal urged cinemas not to show the film, saying it would defame both Manmohan Singh and the country across the world.

Ramandeep Singh, president of Shiromani Akali Dal Delhi, Youth Wing, said that such films are a “serious attack on the minorities by the anti-minority forces such as RSS.”

“The film deliberately demeaned the image of Manmohan Singh, the first Sikh Prime Minister of India, who is a world-renowned economist. The film will not only defame Singh but the country as well across the globe,” he said.

He also said that Manmohan Singh is shown as a weak Prime Minister in the film.

In Siliguri, Kolkata and Ludhiana, the film faced disruption from Congress activists. In Indore, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) activists created a ruckus outside a multiplex.

The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to accord urgent hearing on a plea challenging the January 7 order of the Delhi High Court which had disposed of a petition seeking to ban the trailer of upcoming movie, ‘The Accidental Prime Minister’.