PM Narendra Modi Movie Review: A Bollywood fanboy tribute

Gulf News

Read the full review on gulfnews.com: https://gn24.ae/8105ebe8b5b7000  More great content at: https://gulfnews.com/videos https://gulfnews.com/lifestyle  Instead of a warts-and-all account of India’s most powerful and polarising leader, what we get is an unapologetic fanboy tribute to Modi. It’s a celebration of all things Modi.  #PMNerendraModi #FilmReview #Bollywood

Transcript

00:00What we fear just happened with Bollywood epic.

00:08We are talking about Vivek Oberoi's latest biopic PM Narendra Modi.

00:12Just like all Bollywood biopics, this one is faulty as well when it comes to its overt glorification of its subjects.

00:20PM Narendra Modi too falls to this risk.

00:22We have Vivek Oberoi who is dressed in crisp white cotton kurtas and his character is as blemish free.

00:29If you look closely, you might even spot a golden halo coming out of his silver wig.

00:34It's a remarkable underdog tale of a young chaiwala from Vadnagar in Gujarat

00:38and how he climbs the political ladder and becomes a powerful and the most polarising Indian Prime Minister.

00:45We agree he's charismatic and he's polarising but this is just a fanboy tribute.

00:50There's no grey zone in this film.

00:52It's such a blemish free persona that you often wonder whether it is Modi or whether it's Saint Modi.

00:58In fact, Vivek Oberoi is so good that they have taken creative licences to do away with the unsavoury chapters during his regime.

01:06As we speak, BJP-led PM Modi is enjoying a landslide victory and I know he's very popular.

01:13But when it comes to cinematic licences, director Umang Kumar has taken plenty of that.

01:19In fact, the unsavoury chapters in Modi's life such as the Godhra Carnage,

01:23we're talking about the communal riots that broke out when Prime Minister Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat is skimmed over.

01:31In fact, it's sugarcoated to such an extent that you feel as if this movie is a vindication for Modi

01:37to tell his fans or Modi Bucks as they call themselves that he's never at fault.

01:42There's even a rap song that breaks out every time he makes a rousing speech.

01:46Does it make for riveting cinema? Not so much.

01:49In fact, when there's never any conflict or drama or any grey zone, then what we have is a very snooze-worthy piece of filmmaking.

01:58Vivek Oberoi tries his earnest to actually breathe life into his very unidimensional character

02:04but he falters when it comes to injecting gravitas and soul into this movie.

02:09Watching Vivek Oberoi play Modi is like watching a Salman Khan film.

02:12This man can bash up anybody in his way and do it with such panache.

02:17It's almost unbelievable a tale.

02:19There's also an effort at play to show BJP-led as a party that does not play into religion or caste politics.

02:27It may be far from the truth, but this movie seems to show BJP and the RSS, which is the right-wing party outfits, as a bunch of angels.

02:36It's not that director Omang Kumar does not know how to show layered, complex characters.

02:41When it comes to showing the characters in the opposition party, it's a very reductive approach that he uses.

02:47The politicians from the opposition party like Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi are shown as a bunch of dimwits

02:54and that's not something that you appreciate.

02:56What we expect from a biopic, ideally, is a balanced approach.

03:00We don't want director Omang Kumar to denigrate the subject, but to extol him as a superhero is very disappointing.

03:06Vivek Oberoi, perhaps, is because of his real-life persona where he tweets obnoxious, sexist tweets.

03:12He's not very believable as this do-gooder.

03:15The other supporting characters, played by Manoj Joshi, Zarina Wahab as Modi's mother, are just effective.

03:22They're not particularly remarkable, but we don't have any complaints against them.

03:26This is Vivek Oberoi's show all the way.

03:28Somehow, he does not have the bandwidth as an actor to bring alive this character

03:33and he's also let down by dialogues that are just meant for the Modi bucks.

03:38If you're a movie buck, you're going to be disappointed.

03:41But if you're a Modi buck, you might actually cheer him to the finish line.

03:44I've gone with 2 out of 5.

03:46For my full review, go to gulfnews.com slash tabloid.

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