Allowed to promote Modi biopic after the polls, leading man Vivek Oberoi indicates Election Commission ‘clamped down on free speech’ by stalling the film’s release last month
Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; May 21, 2019)

Excited to begin promotions for PM Narendra Modi anew, Vivek Oberoi opens the conversation with, “On May 23 Modi ji comes back [as the Prime Minister] and the next day, Modi ji is back in theatres.”

One would assume he is pleased with the timing of the release of the biopic. However, Oberoi — whose film’s release during the seven-phase polling in India was stalled by the Election Commission (EC) as it violated the Model Code of Conduct — says the past few weeks have been testing. “It was a major setback. The film was releasing in 40 countries. Distributors in America and UK were confused.”

He minces no words as he says that he saw little sense in the EC’s decision. “It was stemming from fear. There are commercials on Congress as well. By that logic, editorial columns should stop. The Election Commission should have put a blanket ban on news material because that can influence voters, too. Clamping down on free speech [marks a] downward slope for a healthy democracy,” philosophises Oberoi, the irony seemingly lost on him.

Ever since the trailer dropped online, many have criticized the film for being a propaganda movie. “I have been accused of making Modi into a hero. The very fact that we are making a movie on him is because he is already a hero.”

Quiz him if the Omung Kumar-directed film conveniently leaves out the grey areas of the leader’s career, and pat comes his reply, “Unlike documentaries that are factual, biopics are emotional. We stuck to the emotional weave of the narrative.”

To make a stronger case for himself, Oberoi cites Richard Attenborough’s Gandhi (1982). “Even that was panned because reviewers thought it was deifying Gandhi.”

A recent article on Modi in an international magazine drew the ire of his supporters. Ask Oberoi for his take, and he calmly replies, “Time magazine’s cover is someone’s perspective on the country and its political system. This film will be received the same way — some will love it, others will hate it. The essence of democracy is to have an opinion. People will review it for ideological reasons rather than for the film it is.”