Upcoming Bollywood movie based on former prime minister Manmohan Singh’s time in office may not see the light of day in Congress-ruled Madhya Pradesh, with Chief Minister Kamal Nath considering banning it in the state, reports News18.
The film is based on a book authored by the former prime minister’s media advisor, Sanjaya Baru, and has sparked outrage from the Congress party. The party alleges the movie of distorting facts.
The trailer of the movie was released on Thursday (27 December) and depicts Singh as a victim of internal party politics in the Congress.
Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala has attacked the movie as part of BJP’s fake propaganda campaign intended to influence voters ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. He, however, denied rumours that his party was mulling a ban on the movie.
Meanwhile, other sections of the Congress party have hinted at demanding a ban on the movie, with the Maharashtra Youth Congress stating, "If the said movie is released without prior screening for our office bearers and without making necessary changes recommended by us that we find out after viewing the movie it will be understood that you are doing this deliberately and we have other options open to stop the screening of the same across India."
The BJP, on the other hand, has heaped praise on the work as a “riveting tale of how a family held the country to ransom for 10 long years”.
The movie's lead actor Anupam Kher defended the movie and reminded Congress President Rahul Gandhi about his previous tweets defending the freedom of speech and expression.
He said, “My job is to act, the filmmakers' job is to make the film. All the information in the movie was out in public domain since 2014. If someone has a complaint, they should file it but there should be no goondagardi.”