Court orders FIR against Anupam, Akshaye

Tribune News Service
Patna/Chandigarh, January 8

A Bihar court on Tuesday ordered lodging of an FIR against Bollywood actors Anupam Kher, Akshaye Khanna and 13 others associated with the upcoming movie “The Accidental Prime Minister” based on the tenure of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The court of Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate (West) Shaba Alam in Muzaffarpur ordered the Kanti police station to probe the charges levelled against Kher, Khanna and others associated with the biopic and take action as per law. The movie is set for release on January 11.

Advocate Sudhir Kumar Ojha had lodged a complaint on January 3 seeking a stay on the film release. “Manmohan Singh is best known for laying the foundation of a modern India with his economic policies when he was the Finance Minister. But the movie appears to be a clear attempt to tarnish his image,” he said.

Ojha argued that besides Manmohan, the movie had shown several other politicians in “bad light”. Others named in the complaint include actors essaying the role of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Congress president (then national general secretary) Rahul Gandhi, former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, his deputy Lal Krishna Advani and RJD supremo Lalu Prasad.

In Chandigarh, a petition was filed before the Punjab and Haryana HC seeking a stay on the film’s release. Appearing on behalf of petitioner Anumit Singh Sodhi (son of Congress MLA from Guru Harsahai Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi) before a Division Bench headed by Chief Justice Krishna Murari, counsel Kannan Malik sought a hearing on the matter. The Bench, however, posted it for Wednesday. The film is based on a similarly titled book by Sanjaya Baru, former media adviser to then PM Manmohan Singh. Anupam plays Manmohan and Akshaye Baru in the movie. 

The petitioner claimed the Central Board of Film Certification norms made a no-objection certificate mandatory for biopics. He averred Manmohan Singh was a public figure and the movie intended to belittle his image. Besides, it was a political propaganda ahead of the General Election, he said.