Vijay Ratnakar Gutte: The world’s largest and most vibrant democracy deserves political films

Filmmaker Vijay Ratnakar Gutte will make his debut as a director with 'The Accidental Prime Minister', based on Sanjaya Baru’s book 'The Accidental Prime Minister: The Making And Unmaking of Manmohan Singh'. Quiz the filmmaker on why he decided to make his directorial debut with a political film, and he says, “This genre is new in India. A well-told entertaining political film is something that India is ready for.Coming to the book, I wanted credible material. My producer Sunil Bohra approached me with the book. I was blown away by its honesty and candid approach in dealing with a topic
which is sensitive.”
Sanjaya Baru’s book received bouquets as well as brickbats when it hit the stands, but the filmmaker says he was unperturbed by the way it was received. Vijay elaborates, “Criticism and praise go hand-in-hand with a published book and that wasn’t something that concerned me. What attracted me to the material was the opportunity to tell the story of what happens in the Prime Minister’s Office. It’s something that only a few elite are aware of. I wanted to take the story to the masses in an entertaining way without compromising on the facts that are presented in the book. The world’s largest and most vibrant democracy deserves political films. Truth be told, when politics becomes dull, democracy is in danger. I want to open the door for other storytellers who have similar thoughts. This project will push the envelope and create the possibility in the minds of filmmakers that such a story can be told.”
The film is headlined by Anupam Kher as Dr Manmohan Singh, Akshaye Khanna as Sanjaya Baru and Aahana Kumra as Priyanka Gandhi. Vijay reveals that getting the casting right was central to the narrative. The director sums up, saying, “Besides looks and similarity to real people, I wanted to see if they could get into the skin of the person they were playing. It was important to ensure they remained characters and didn’t come across as caricatures. Considering we have 163 characters, almost eight months went into casting.”