Accidental Movie Badly made

It is probably a first on Indian screen. A movie that declares that it is true to a book and does not shy away from referring to real life living personalities in national politics and also being bold to judge people from their own cadre. It is not very difficult to figure out whose side the script is on leading to suspicion of it being a propaganda movie. I hope not, since it is a badly made propaganda movie that will not do the ruling governance any good to be connected to.

The Accidental prime minister boldly treads the path that creatives in India seldom have. It picks up as its central characters the former Prime Minister Dr.Manmohan Singh and his media advisor Sanjay Baru from whose book by the same name the makers faithfully adapted.

The author thanks to his close proximity to the PM and also being an astute former journalist tries throw benevolent light on his former boss who he describes as an intelligent but weak on decision man thrown into the ring by the “family” probably to be used as a face to their decisions. It is content that could have rocked the film industry and the country had it not stayed true to the book and looked like a visual one on screen.

Net impact is that the film comes across as a garland of Vignettes shot with hazy blurred lenses on poorly designed sets with most of the characters coming across as a coterie of bureaucratic vagabonds whiling away their time in the digitally created set ( as the ‘ making ‘ seemed to suggest).

After one has amused oneself with the lead character’s weak shuffle, the authors spiffy suits and lopsided smiles spouting the “Sutradhar” remarks talking to the audience reminding one of Netflix’s infamous Kevin in HOC and other character actors content to be caricatures mimicking some or the other living political personality giving the audience a chance to play “who’s who” with big help from the actual names being taken.

To be fair the “ Family “ is hardly there except for a couple of scenes already famous in the trailers and appear static on large billboards.

It could have been better if in fact the makers had dramatized the content to suit a proper storyline with highs and lows of the principal characters involved or gone whole hog as a biography of the former PM rather than trying to string News documentary style vignettes which don’t seem to connect together as the editor seems completely missing or having a messed up equipment.

The chance to have sharp dialogues, amuse the audience with witty repartees, being bold in pointing out controversies instead of hiding behind tacky scenes taken from real news clips which distract than appear realistic, is lost.

It is sad that this movie could have made a dent in the records for good intelligent cinema even if it is disguised propaganda. Every party is free to make their own interpretation of the political scenario. To that effect one must admit Hollywood excels in this kind of film making. Aaron Sorkin and his “The West Wing” are examples from decades back which serve as outstanding political entertainment.

Undoubtedly Anupam puts his heart into getting the look perfect and then remains content with that than taking the profile to the next level focusing on the shuffle than bringing out the intelligence of the weak willed man, Akshay cannot be faulted for playing Baru the way he does. In fact I looked forward to his presence. The rest of the cast is really wasted including Arjun who plays Rahul and a German Actress who plays Sonia. Perhaps the makers did not want to drive the knife in to the hilt.

A disappointing product with tacky sets/poor direction and editing/sorry photography/lack of serious intent in going for the kill and all the excellent performances by the leads just cannot save the movie from being a tedious affair. If at all people sit through it is because of the curiosity of watching something play out on the screen that is already past reality. I doubt this will make a dent in popularity of any personality as this will be if at all understood only by urban audiences and that too those with a long attention span. The couple next to me fiddled around with their mobiles and walked out 3/4^th of the way while the giggling row of people in the front googled Dr.Singh to find out more about his life. How do I know?  Well I had no choice but to read the bright screen shining in the hands of the ill-mannered people in the dark hall.

The movie deserves ½ a star extra if only for pioneering the making of movies that do not fear being realistic and relate to existing profiles in the political arena and that makes it very interesting to watch out what comes next.

If it is the ruling party’s propaganda really, would advise them to pick up dramatic scripts, good editors and make sure they don’t cut back on good quality of sets/camera and script writers.

A movie finally that cannot be ignored but is too flawed to appreciate.

**1/2