Vivek Oberoi or as he goes by these days, Vivekanand Oberoi, means business. After it was announced that the actor would jump on to Bollywood’s propaganda biopic bandwagon with a biopic on PM Narendra Modi, many raised doubt about the glaring physical differences between the actor the PM. Now, they’ve dropped the first look of Oberoi as Narendra Modi.
Wearing a saffron kurta, and sporting the Prime Minister’s famous white beard, Oberoi is unrecognisable in the still.
Normally, that would be a compliment for any actor try to get the look of the his character right, but this is NOT a compliment. Oberoi doesn’t look like himself, sure, but, as many good people of Twitter have pointed out, he doesn’t look anything like the PM either.
Aided by, what looks like, a prosthetic nose and a certain degree of photoshop too, the makers have really gone out on a limb to make a statement about how serious they are about making this biopic.
__ _____. __ _____. ____ ______. Jai Hind ___ We humbly ask for your prayers and blessings on this incredible journey. #AkhandBharat #PMNarendraModi pic.twitter.com/t0lQVka7mJ
— Vivek Anand Oberoi (@vivekoberoi) January 7, 2019
No, it doesn’t matter if we make subreddit threads about how funny it is, or how blatant propaganda has become through Bollywood biopics. It’s reminiscent of something Gangs of Wasseypur’s Ramadhir Singh says along the lines of how everyone is watching their whole life as a film in which they are the ‘hero’. Bollywood biopics seem to have become the living, breathing manifestation of that one line. Everyone is a hero in their own story, nuance be damned.
Directed by Omung Kumar (the man behind 2017’s worst film Bhoomi) it remains to be seen how the makers paint a portrait of the Prime Minister, that is anything but reverential. Till then, Vivekanand Oberoi’s fake nose and photoshopped cheek-bones will have to take the responsibility of ushering achhe din on the big screen.
