THE POLITICAL THEATRE!
A number of biopics on politicians are in various stages of production, not just in Bollywood but in Tamil and Telugu film industries as well
Clearly, it’s the season of biopics/real life stories across Indian filmdom. And it’s not just sports stars, army men or yesteryear icons, Indian politicians too seem to have caught the attention of film-makers. What had started as a stream is turning into a deluge of sorts. In the latest instance, Vidya Balan and her producer husband, Siddharth Roy Kapur have acquired the adaptation rights of journalist Sagarika Ghose’s book, Indira: India’s Most Powerful Prime Minister.
A BIG LINEUP
Actors Kunal Kemmu and Soha Ali Khan are set to produce a biopic on lawyerpolitician, Ram Jethmalani. Plus, The Accidental Prime
Minister (featuring Anupam Kher as ex-Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh) and Nawazuddin Siddiquistarrer Thackeray have already gone on floors. Additionally, multiple names such as Akshay Kumar, Paresh Rawal and Shatrughan Sinha have been associated with a biopic on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, if and when it gets made.
Interestingly, not just Bollywood, respective biopics on late actor-turned-Andhra Pradesh CM, NT Rama Rao and ex-Tamil Nadu chief minister, J Jayalalithaa (to be made in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi) are also believed to be in the works. Also, a Hindi feature film, Modi Kaka Ka Gaon — loosely inspired by PM Modi’s development agenda — released recently. Experts, on their part, feel “people will always be interested in watching real life stories of iconic people in a well-made film”.
“We keep reading and hearing about them [politicians] but it makes for a great cinematic experience to watch such stories on big screen. Their lives have so many highs-and-lows and twists-and-turns that they have all the ingredients for a perfect screenplay,” says trade analyst Taran Adarsh. Makers concur. “I felt we needed to tell his story as he has a 70-yearold career and a long life of 94 years, which is amazing. There is lot of responsibility, as it is not a work of fiction, so you do fictionalise few things but primarily it is a biopic,” says Kunal about the Jethmalani biopic.
CHALLENGING JOB
For actors, it clearly comes with challenges but they aren’t complaining. Kherr calls Manmohan Singh’s part “the most difficult role that I have done”. “Like an acting student, I went through Constantin Stanislavski’s famous book, Building A Character all over again [for the part]. Plus, I also saw hours and hours of footage besides internalising the character. It s not just about putting on a beard, eyelashes and wearing blue turban. Things won’t work that way. It will start to show as it’s a two hour film,” says Kher.
Nawazuddin too prepped hard to get late Thackeray’s style, body language and attitude right. He underwent Marathi diction training and studied cartoons on the late Shiv Sena chief drawn by RK Laxman, and how Thackeray responded to them. “My job is to act. So whatever character I get, I play that with all my acuity,” he says.