Film on Manmohan may fuel war-of-words 

In the run up to the Lok Sabha elections, the release of The Accidental Prime Minister may fuel a war of words between the Congress and the BJP.

In fact, during the campaign of the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Dr Manmohan Singh, upon whom the film is based, was targetted by the BJP leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 

The trailer of the film, a biographical political-drama based on Dr Singh's tenure as head of the Congress-led UPA government from 2004-14, was released on Thursday.

In the trailer, a line says: "Mahabharat had two families, India has one"— an apparent reference to the Nehru-Gandhi family. 

Maharashtra Youth Congress president Satyajit Tambe demanded that the film be shown first to Congress leaders before its release.

"Do not distort the history. Show the film first to Congress leaders," he said, adding that he was contemplating moving court.

"Ladies and Gentlemen!! Presenting the trailer of our highly anticipated film #TheAccidentalPrimeMinister," Anupam Kher, who plays the role of Dr Singh, tweeted.

The film is based on the memoirs of veteran journalist Sanjaya Baru, the then media advisor of Dr Singh. While Baru's role is played by Akshaye Khanna, German actor Suzanne Bernert will portray UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Arjun Mathur will be seen as Congress president Rahul Gandhi.

The film is slated to be released on January 11, next year.

From the trailer, it is clear that the film dwells on Dr Singh's relations with the Gandhis, the Indo-US nuclear deal and the problems the coalition government faced in the decade's time.

The film presented by Rudra Production (UK), Bohra Bros in association with Dr Jayantilal Gada (Pen India Limited) is directed by Vijay Ratnakar Gutte and written by Mayank Tewari.