Film: PM Narendra Modi
Release: 24.05.2019
Director: Omung Kumar
Cast: Vivek Oberoi, Boman Irani, Zarina Wahab, Prashant Narayan. Manoj Joshi
When the RSS Chief asks a young Narendra Modi/ Vivek Oberoi to join him in his fight for the nation, Modi says he has yet to determine his journey because at times his heart wants to be a soldier and at times, a hermit.
When his parents/ Rajendra Gupta and Zarina Wahab try to get their son married, he escapes to the mountains and meditates but is restless till he finds a guru. Some years pass by and his guru/ Suresh Oberoi has three questions to test his shisya…
If he had the choice to cross the stream alone and the choice to row a boat full of people on the other side what would he prefer? If an old, ailing tree has to be axed what would be the next step? Modi waits for the third question but the guru asks him to pass him a weapon lying beside him and he does unthinkingly. It is now time for the guru to provide answers he is searching for…
That you have the power to cross the stream alone but choose to do so with other people make you a karamyogi, says the guru. That you choose to sow the seeds of an axed tree back into the soil reflects you are a healer and your offering of the weapon to me holding the cutting edge towards you says you will calamities upfront. You are meant to serve people not be in the mountains.
Modi returns home, works on grassroots with the RSS, impresses the old guards of BJP with his dedication and hard work and gets elected as Chief Minister, Gujarat. Post Godhra riots, he is forced into exile for five long years but on the behest of Amit Shah/ Manoj Joshi returns to aid the earthquake victims and is reelected, Chief Minister.
A journey marked with triumphs, defeats, mistrusts, controversies, so many scams, allegations and humiliations must bring a lump to your throat, it doesn’t. Barring a few scenes like his Skype communication in the America Stadium, his public address in the wake of a death threat and a live interview with a leading channel most of the stories you are familiar with via newspapers or television.
The problem is also that Modi’s life is too eventful and the conflict is to compress all the highs and lows into a limited screenplay. The narrative is embarrassingly sugar coated as if Narendra Modi has no failings as a man or as a leader.
When a filmmaker chooses a biopic, he also chooses the ideology of his subject but he has the option of projection and director Omang Kumar turns a blind eye to Modi’s failings as a man and as a political leader bypasses thus depriving the audience of an honest audience of an insightful story.
Vivek Oberoi portrays the dialect, oratory and the expressions of the prime minister but unlike Boman Irani who captures the spirit of Ratan Tata, Vivek fails to imbibe the spirit of Narendra Modi.
Must you watch PM Narendra Modi, yes, because it is our right to know everything about the Prime Minister. I rate PM Narendra Modi with 2.5 stars.