No prior screening for The Accidental Prime Minister, says Anupam Kher

Anupam Kher has refused to the opposition Congress' demands of a special screening of his upcoming film 'The Accidental Prime Minister.' Kher, in a press conference on Friday, was responding to the assertions made by the Maharashtra Youth Congress that objected to the recently released trailer of the political drama.

The organisation has also demanded a special pre-release screening of the film - based on Dr. Manmohan Singh's tenure as India's prime minister.

When asked by the media when the makers plan to hold a screening ahead of its January 11 release, the veteran actor retorted, "Why should we? Then what is the use of the Censor Board?"

He added, "The only person, if he asks me, that I would like to have a screening - not to sort of ask if it is right or not - is Dr. Manmohan Singh."

Following the release of the trailer on Thursday, the official Twitter handle of BJP called it a "riveting tale of how a family held the country to ransom for 10 long years".

When asked if it isn't unusual for a political party to do that, the 63-year-old replied, "How can we stop somebody to say whatever they want to say?"

'The Accidental Prime Minister' is based on facts as chronicled in a book by Sanjaya Baru-- Manmohan Singh's media advisor between 2004 and 2008. It revolves around Singh's life, the economist and politician who served as the Prime Minister of India from 2004 to 2014 under the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.

The trailer of Anupam Kher's much-awaited film The Accidental Prime Minister released yesterday. Talking about his character, Anupam said that initially, he didn't want to be a part of his forthcoming film as he thought that it will be a politically controversial film. During the press conference today, Anupam said, ''I have researched for around 6-7 months for the film. It was the toughest role of my career and it's unfortunate to think about banning the film. It is just a biopic, which is based on what's happening the Prime Minister office (PMO).

Anupam said that it is just a biopic and there should not be any controversy around the film. 

The film stars Anupam Kher as Manmohan Singh, the economist and politician who served as the Prime Minister of India from 2004 to 2014 under the United Progressive Alliance.

"About one-and-a-half years back, my friend Ashok Pandit told me that there is a film being made on Dr Manmohan Singh, and of course everybody heard about the book and the controversy behind the book. So, my first reaction was that I shouldn't be part of this film because of so many reasons,'' he said.

"I thought it will be a political film and I didn't know what will be there in the film. The other thing is that it is not easy to portray Dr Manmohan Singh because he is an active political personality. This film is not based on a political figure who belonged to 1960s or 1970s era. When Viay (Gutte) and Mr Bohra (Sunil Bohra) came to meet me so, for the first one or two months, I told them that I didn't want to be part of it," he added.

Kher added that the role of Dr.Manmohan Singh challenged him as an actor. "One day, I saw Dr. Manmohan Singh walking from one place to another on the television. So, the actor inside me told me if I could walk like him. But I was a disaster. That challenged me. I rehearsed his walk for 45 minutes but I couldn't get it right so, I called the makers for the narration of the script and I was very fascinated by it.

He said, ''I feel everything is difficult about Dr Manmohan Singh. He has very monotonous voice and yet there has to be variations then, I said yes to the makers of the film."

(With ANI Inputs)