Bollywood actor Vivek Oberoi has been soaked in hard-nosed controversy ever since his movie, which is a biopic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is set to hit the theatres on April 5.
In a candid interview with Times Now’s Navika Kumar, Vivek composedly spoke about his upcoming movie and discussed the questions and accusations shot at him.
Taking a dig at the Congress, Vivek Oberoi, who has played the lead role in the upcoming biopic ‘PM Narendra Modi’, wondered today whether Congress leaders asking for a court ban on the film’s release in the middle of the national election campaign are “scared of the film or of the Chowkidar’s danda”.
Is this picture ka darr or chowkidaar ki laathi ka darr?: @vivekoberoi, Actor, in conversation with @navikakumar | #ElectionHotseat pic.twitter.com/PKml6vwQek
— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) April 2, 2019
Vivek was making a passing reference to Congress bigwigs like Kapil Sibal, Randeep Surjewala and Abhishek Manu Singhvi who had approached the Election Commission citing the movie as a propaganda tool ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. They called it a case of surrogate advertising.
Nevertheless, much to their dismay, the EC has said that it has no objection with the release of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s biopic.
Speculating why the opposition was getting so intimidated by just another movie, he said that “I don’t need to make Narendra Modi look like a hero. He is a hero”.
Similarly, Rajdeep Sardesai, one of the leading faces of the left-leaning Lutyens cabal Media, often referred to as the Michelangelo of Indian journalism, was thrown down the gauntlet as he questioned Vivek Oberoi, whom he invited on his show to discuss the movie the other day.
Rajdeep Sardesai, as usual in a hurry to discredit anything associated with PM Modi, straightaway questioned it as a ‘propaganda movie’ without even watching it. Rajdeep Sardesai questioned Vivek Oberoi on the timing of the release of the movie just ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, as Rajdeep claims that the movie is being released to influence elections.
Referring to Rajdeep “as a huge opinion maker”, Vivek Oberoi not only responded to allegations made by Rajdeep Sardesai with all politeness but also showed the mirror to him about his political biases and opinions. While responding to the controversy over the release of the movie, Vivek Oberoi shot back to Rajdeep asking whether his show should also be banned for influencing viewers through his opinions just like the movie.
Vivek Oberoi, slamming the opposition for making a major hue and cry about his upcoming movie asserted that the movie is not funded by any political party and is not part of any propaganda.
Justifying his decision to make a biopic on PM Modi, the actor said, PM Modi’s life story and vision inspires a billion people in India who proudly thump their chests at being called ‘Bhakts’. He added that he felt that the story of a poor man’s rise from humble beginnings to an inspiring leader of a billion people, had to be told.
Also taking a jibe at the Congress poll manifesto, Vivek Oberoi had mocked the Congress on Wednesday and said that the party should have released its manifesto on April 1.
On a debate with actor-turned-politician Nagma, Vivek, again speaking about the release of his movie, attacked the Congress manifesto released on April 2 and added that he wondered which country the manifesto was made for, hinting at Pakistan.
