Anupam Kher blasts Hansal Mehta over tweet against his film
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New Delhi: Actor Anupam Kher and filmmaker Hansal Mehta got themselves into a heated exchange on social media over the film The Accidental Prime Minister, which featured the late former PM of India, Manmohan Singh. Both had worked on the film, which was released in 2019, and Kher donned the lead role.
Following a post by veteran journalist Vir Sanghvi on the recent passing of Manmohan saying that the film was spreading lies about Manmohan Singh and it was one of the worst Hindi movies ever made. He argued the movie is an example of using media to tarnish the name of a good man.
Mehta retweeted the post and wrote “+100” in support of the journalist’s opinion. However, this upset Kher, who played Manmohan Singh in the movie, and he expressed it, saying that Hansal was the creative director of the film and making such a comment on his work, revealing his double standards.
Sanghvi's tweet read, "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."
Reacting to Mehta’s post, Kher wrote, “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 film shoot in England? He gave his creative input and must have also taken the fee for it. So, for him to say 100% to #VirSanghvi’s comment is so messed up and full of double standards! Not that I agree with Mr. Sanghvi, but we are all capable of doing bad or indifferent work. But we should OWN it. It's not like #HansalMehta trying to earn some brownies from a certain section of people. Common Hansal!! Grow up! I still have all our videos and pics of the shoot together!”
Later, Kher told Hindustan Times that The Accidental Prime Minister was one of his best works and said that he was not comfortable with Mehta’s tweet putting down the film. Being the Creative Director of the film, he should not speak against it, Kher said.
He worked with the film for 35 days and was professionally paid for the same. Therefore, he must own up to his work. He pointed out that the film was based on a book and Mehta could have left the project during the shooting of the film itself.