Director Hansal Mehta and Anupam Kher recently had a war of words over the film The Accidental Prime Minister, which starred the latter in the role of former PM Dr. Manmohan Singh. Recently on X, Hansal had affirmed to the criticism of the film which didn’t sit well with Anupam, who called him a “hypocrite” and said that since the filmmaker had served as creative director on the film, he should stand by it. The mud-slinging went out of hand and now finally, Hansal has clarified his stance in a new interview.
It all started when journalist Vir Sanghvi, after the demise of the former PM, shared a poster of the film and wrote, “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.”
Hansal reshared the post and wrote “+100”, on it, stating that he agrees with the opinion. Anupam was quick to comment on the post and he scathingly wrote, “The Hypocrite in this thread is NOT Vir Sanghvi. He has the freedom to not like a film. But Hansal Mehta was the creative director of The Accidental Prime Minister. Who was present at the entire shoot of the film in England! Giving his creative inputs and must have taken the fee also for it. So for him to say 100% to Vir Sanghvi’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. Not like Hansal Mehta trying to earn some brownies from certain section of people. Common Hansal!! Grow up! I still have all our videos and pics of the shoot together!”
To this, Hansal responded by saying, “Of course I own my mistakes Mr Kher. And I can admit that I made a mistake. Can’t I sir? I did my job as professionally as I was allowed to. Can you deny that? But it doesn’t mean I have to keep defending the film or that it makes me lose objectivity about my error of judgement. About brownie points and hypocrisy, I respectfully submit that you seem to be evaluating people by the same yardstick you evaluate yourself.”
After a while, the director tried to ease out the moment as he said, “And by the way, Anupam Kher sir, you can say all you want. Call me names if you wish. Apologies if I have inadvertently hurt you. Sending love to you. Whenever you wish we will speak and clear the air. I will not give space to trolls to distort this further and have a field day at our expense. Good night, belated X’mas greetings and a happy new year in advance. To you and to all the hyperactive trolls.”
Now, Hansal, in an interview with Times Now revealed that he joined the project because of a commitment he had made to the producer, who had earlier backed his film, Shahid (2010). The filmmaker stood by the criticism of the film and reiterated that he worked within the limited capacity provided by the film’s director and creative team, but it was a chapter that he left behind in his life. “It is unfortunate that my words shifted focus away from what was meant to be a sombre reflection on my error in judgment and instead lead to abusive trolling,” said Hansal.
Hansal also said that it was completely okay for both him and Anupam to be critical of each other’s opinion. Talking about withholding his criticism about the film during its release, he said that it wouldn’t have been right for people who were attached with the project.
The director also expressed his admiration for Anupam, and how the actor’s debut film, Saaransh, is a reason why he became a filmmaker. He further said that his apology for ‘inadvertently hurting him’ isn’t a sign of weakness or him stepping down from his stance. “Instead of respecting my dignified stand, he chooses to rake up old tweets, call me names, insinuate hidden agenda, etc…I believe the filmmakers consider it an exceptional film that achieved their objectives and was financially successful,” he said.
On the work front, Hansal is going to come up next with the series Gandhi. Anupam, on the other hand, was last seen in the Netflix film Vijay 69.