Anupam Kher, Hansal Mehta clash over ‘lies’ remark on Manmohan Singh film

New Delhi, Dec 28 (PTI) Veteran actor Anupam Kher and Hansal Mehta got into a war of words over their movie "The Accidental Prime Minister" after the filmmaker agreed with a journalist that the 2019 political drama was filled with "lies" about former PM Manmohan Singh.

Singh, the architect behind India's economic reforms, passed away on Thursday night at Delhi's All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) at the age of 92. He served as the prime minister from 2004 to 2014.

It all started with a post by senior journalist Vir Sanghvi, who on Friday labelled "The Accidental Prime Minister", which was based on the memoir of Singh's former media advisor Sanjay Baru, as "one of the worst Hindi movies ever made".

Featuring Kher as former PM Singh and actor Akshaye Khanna as Baru, the movie was directed by Vijay Gutte and depicted political events and decisions during Singh's leadership, focusing on his challenges as the prime minister and influence of the Congress party on his administration.

"If you want to remember the lies that were told about Manmohan Singh you should rewatch 'The Accidental Prime Minister'. It is not only one of the worst Hindi movies ever made but is an example of how media was used to tarnish the name of a good man," Sanghvi wrote on X.

Mehta, 56, shared Sanghvi's post and captioned it, "+100." In an earlier post, the filmmaker had condoled Singh's demise and said the nation "owes him an apology".

"More than anybody else, I owe him one. Whatever the compulsion or intent, it is a regret I will carry with a very heavy heart. Sorry, sir. Besides your achievements as an economist, Finance Minister, and Prime Minister, you were an honorable man—a rare gentleman in a vocation dominated by ruffians," Mehta had posted.

However, Mehta's endorsement of Sanghvi's post irked Kher, who called the filmmaker a "hypocrite". He also pointed out Mehta served as the creative director of the movie.

"The HYPOCRITE in this thread is NOT @virsanghvi. He has the freedom to not like a film. But @mehtahansal was the #CreativeDirector of #TheAccidentalPrimeMinister. Who was present at the entire shoot of the film in England! Giving his creative inputs and must have taken the fee also for it.

"So for him to say 100% to #VirSanghvi’s comment is so messed up and full of double standards!" the 69-year-old actor wrote.

Kher said though he doesn't agree with Sanghvi's opinion, he believes artistes are "capable of doing bad or indifferent work".

"But we should OWN it. Not like #HansalMehta trying to earn some brownies from certain section of people. Common Hansal!! Grow up! I still have all our videos and pics of the shoot together!" he added.

Besides, Kher dug up Mehta's old posts where the filmmaker congratulated him and Khanna as well as Gutte for their work on the movie. He shared the posts and wrote, "Without comments." Mehta, who also had a cameo appearance as former Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik in "The Accidental Prime Minister", responded, saying that he always owned up to his mistakes.

"And I can admit that I made a mistake. Can’t I sir? I did my job as professionally as I was allowed to. Can you deny that? But it doesn’t mean I have to keep defending the film or that it makes me lose objectivity about my error of judgement.

"About brownie points and hypocrisy I respectfully submit that you seem to be evaluating people by the same yardstick you evaluate yourself," he said.

In another post, the director apologised to the actor for inadvertently hurting him and said he can clear the air with Kher at any appropriate moment.

"Sending love to you. Whenever you wish we will speak and clear the air. I will not give space to trolls to distort this further and have a field day at our expense. Good night, belated X’mas greetings and a happy new year in advance. To you and to all the hyperactive trolls," Mehta said. PTI