หนัง The Accidental Prime Minister

หนัง The Accidental Prime Minister สร้างจากหนังสือชื่อเดียวกันของ Sanjaya Baru ภาพยนตร์จะเล่าถึงเหตุการณ์ทางการเมืองในประเทศอินเดียปี 2004 ช่วงวิกฤติ กับการจะนำพลังนิวเคลียมาพัฒนาประเทศ จึงก่อให้เกิดการประท้วงต่างๆ ขึ้นมากมายทั่วทั้งประเทศ

Leaders are born in times of crisis… this axiom can be summed into a trite preposition… greater the crisis bigger is the leader. Indian summer of 2004 saw the grand old political party of India Indian National Congress face one of its biggest crisis since its inception. Stalwarts from the grand old party and opposition were not in favour of Sonia Gandhi heading the government it was in fact one of the agenda or rather hidden agenda on which the memorable election of 2004 fought. Post results it was evident that INC will head the coalition and if INC heads the government then Sonia will be the Prime Minister. Those who had opposed her foreign origin had now come around… those who had ideological differences with INC decided to forget it for the time being… in short all was set for the coronation and once again someone from the powerful Gandhi and Nehru clan was going to head the government… it is at this point fate decided to intervene… a twist of fate created a void and Sonia Gandhi was out of the race. Time was ripe for someone who would be acceptable to all factions… be noncontroversial… astute to pull the country through the financial crisis that was looming large… all of these qualities were supposedly found in one man who was Sardar Manmohan Singh, the man who has been around for more than three decades. Sardar Manmohan Singh, a reserved, shy, without any political ambitions whatsoever; a man who has never been known for his oratory skills or for charismatic presence; a man who made one of the most humble beginnings. Above all a man with no iota of any lineage to stake claim to the most coveted position; a man who has been dubbed as ‘the best Cabinet Secretary that the country never had’ is suddenly poised to become the Prime Minister of the largest democracy in the world. However accidental the appointment might have been, Sardar Manmohan Singh was well aware of his responsibilities and the power that he had in him, the position to continue his mission for the country. Was he as naïve as the popular perception about him has always been? Was it a façade that he carefully built? With the passage of time he started displaying the brilliance of his acumen in understanding people, relationships and tackling situations… from appointment of people at key positions be it Sanjay Baru… Montek Singh Ahluwalia or be it dealing with the power play with the left. The Accidental Prime Minister derives heavily from the book of the same title by Sanjay Baru, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s spin doctor in the capacity of media officer at the PMO. It is due to Baru’s ring side view and other journalistic accounts of that era that the film is able to project a revelatory picture of the prime minister working in a government that worked for 10 long years with two centres of power. The audiences will witness the thrilling drama that unfolded not only in the ‘making but also the unmaking of Dr. Manmohan Singh.’ A fast paced and entertaining narrative of the political manipulations, the juicy tit bits of the corridors of power, the film would feed the insatiable hunger and curiosity of millions about what really had transpired during one of the most enigmatic periods in Indian political history… UPA I & II.