Anupam Kher will next be seen in The Accidental Prime Minister where he steps into the shoes of India’s former prime minister Manmohan Singh. The film was due to be released on 21 December, but has now been delayed.
With the Congress party winning in three of the four states in the recent assembly elections, there were concerns whether this film would run into political trouble. However, director Vijay Gutte has clarified that his film has been delayed because the post-production work is yet to be completed.
“We were not able to finish the the post production as I was working simultaneously on the Hindi and English versions. Also, there is a huge amount of VFX involved. We wrapped up the shoot on 27 October and I thought the final print of would be locked in 30 days. That didn’t happen,” Gutte told MumbaiMirror.com
Besides, in August this year, Gutte was arrested by the Directorate General of Goods and Services Tax Intelligence (DGGSTI) for submitting fake invoices under his firm, VRG Digital Corp. Pvt. Ltd. The firm allegedly submitted 149 fake invoices to avail input tax credit (ITC) amounting to Rs34 crore from Horizon Outsource Solutions Pvt. Ltd. without any receipt. Furthermore, Gutte’s firm also claimed a cash refund of Rs28 crore against CENVAT (Central Value Added Tax) using the same fake invoices.
He was later granted bail by a metropolitan magistrate court after he agreed to pay the default amount.
When Pahlaj Nihalani was the Central Board of Film Certification, he insisted on filmmakers getting a ‘No Objection Certificate’ or NOC from people on whom a film is based. If the subject of the film is no more, the filmmakers will need an NOC from the relatives of the person. Gutte has ruled out seeking any such NOC as he believes that legally he can make a film on an individual without getting NOC from them.
‘There is no such law. We can go to the high court and get the film released without getting an NOC. Did they ask NOC from Bhagat Singh during The Legend Of Bhagat Singh (2002)? Manmohan Singh as a PM was a public figure, so no one can take away my legal right to make a move on his tenure,” Gutte said.
The Accidental Prime Minister is based on Sanjaya Baru’s book titled The Accidental Prime Minister: The Making and Unmaking of Manmohan Singh.