Lasyapriya Sundaram (BOMBAY TIMES; January 11, 2019)

As his directorial debut, The Accidental Prime Minister, hits theatres today, BT catches up with Vijay Gutte for a quick chat about the film and why he chose a political movie to begin his filmmaking career with. Excerpts…

The Accidental Prime Minister marks your debut as a director. Why did you choose to open your innings with a film that revolves around politics? You could have played it safe and made a romance, comedy or action film...
The producer gave me the book, The Accidental Prime Minister, and asked me to reject it if I didn’t like it. After reading the book, I didn’t reveal my excitement and told the producer that I wanted to meet the writer, Sanjaya Baru (former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s media advisor). I met him for seven days and spent close to five hours with him every day. I wanted to tell the story after reading the book and interacting with him. We know everything about the White House, but we don’t know anything about our Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). I believe that others will now follow suit and make films that involve politics. In fact, so many biopics have been announced, including that of Indira Gandhi, Jayalalithaa and NTR. I picked out chapters from the book that talk about 10 years of Manmohan Singh’s tenure. The film chronicles his achievements and the problems he had faced. I have followed the book to the T.

Political films, especially in our country, are often slotted as propaganda tools. What are your views on that?
I am learning to deal with it. This book has been in the public domain since 2014. What many people found controversial has already been discussed on news channels. We have been making the film for the past two years. Its first look was revealed one-and-a-half years ago, but nobody objected to it at that time.

Have you told the story the way it was written, or have you taken a political stand in the film?
You have to tell the story the way it is. Otherwise, it will be wrong on my part. I have ensured that the spirit of the book is maintained. No filmmaker will go about his labour of love with the agenda that he wants to make a propaganda film.

Did you anticipate any opposition to your film considering it has strong political content?
I had a brief discussion with the producer before starting the film. He had consulted lawyers and found out if we could make a film based on the book. Since those things were taken care of, I didn’t have to worry about it.

Rudra Productions (UK) Bohra Bros in association with Dr. Jayantilal Gada (pen), present The Accidental Prime Minister. Produced by Sunil Bohra, Dhaval Jayantilal Gada & Bloom Arts Pte Ltd, the film releases today.