Was tough to cast actors for The Accidental Prime Minister: Director

Anupam Kher in a still from The Accidental Prime Minister

The Accidental Prime Minister director Vijay Ratnakar Gutte says getting the right actors to play each part of the narrative was a tough task that he and the casting team went through. "I spent around nine months to cast actors in the film. Since the film is based on real characters and people know them all, they live in the public memory, as a film director, I had to choose the right actors for it. There is a thin line between caricature and capturing the essence of the character. Only good actors can execute the latter," Gutte told IANS here in an interview.

Thanking the casting team, he added: "Hansal Mehta and his team who are in the business for the last 20 years helped me to get the actors I wanted. It was such a daunting task. The most difficult casting was of Sanjaya Baru, which is played by Akshaye Khanna."

The film is based on an eponymous book penned by Baru. The film features Anupam Kher as former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, apart from actors like Suzanne Bernert, Aahana Kumra and Arjun Mathur. The story of the film offers an insight into Singh's journey and how he functioned at the Prime Minister's Office, where Baru was the official media advisor between 2004 and 2008.

Baru's character seems quite flamboyant than who he is in real life. Asked if he fictionalised the character a bit, Gutte said, "Yes, there are many fictional elements that I added on the portrayal of Akshaye's character because I wanted it to look entertaining. In real life, Baru is intelligent, and so is Akshaye's character in the film but I wanted him to look in a certain way. So I made him wear good clothes and added some swag. It is entertaining that way, but the essence of the character is intact.

"The authenticity should be there in the story, in the essence of the character... the visual presentation can be entertaining. At the end of the day, we make cinema to entertain people."

The Accidental Prime Minister released on Friday.

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