{"id":4361,"date":"2016-04-05T03:55:03","date_gmt":"2016-04-04T22:25:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=4361"},"modified":"2016-04-05T03:55:03","modified_gmt":"2016-04-04T22:25:03","slug":"mere-pyaare-prime-minister-review-sanitation-elections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=4361","title":{"rendered":"Mere Pyaare Prime Minister: A Poor Cousin of Toilet: Ek Prem Katha"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

R<\/span><\/p><\/div>

akeysh Omprakash Mehra is a confusing filmmaker. I say this because for someone who made <\/span>Rang De Basanti<\/span><\/i> \u2013 a sharp indictment of bureaucracy, corruption, and the government \u2013 his work since, is devoid of any voice. With the exception of possibly <\/span>Delhi 6<\/span><\/i>, Mehra\u2019s films seem satisfied with repeating, rather than creating: <\/span>Mirzya<\/span><\/i> is solid proof. His latest outing, <\/span>Mere Pyaare Prime Minister<\/span><\/i>, only confirms that pattern.<\/span>\n\nStarring Anjali Patil (<\/span>Newton<\/span><\/i>) and youngster Om Kanojiya, <\/span>Mere Pyaare Prime Minister <\/span><\/i>revolves around Sargam, an impoverished single mother who lives in a Mumbai slum with her son, Kanhaiya. One night, when Sargam ventures outside to relieve herself at a public toilet, she is raped \u2013 this crime triggers a desire in her son to build a toilet for her. <\/span>\n\nTo do that, he writes a letter to the Prime Minister and then travels to Delhi to deliver it. Essentially, the film \u2013 much of which was revealed in its trailer \u2013 says nothing new. Its plea against open defecation and in favour of easy access to toilets is a hybrid of the one that we already witnessed in 2017\u2019s <\/span>Toilet: Ek Prem Katha<\/span><\/i> and last year\u2019s <\/span>Halkaa<\/span><\/i>. It\u2019s essentially just another love letter to PM Modi\u2019s Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. That you can predict almost an entire film before it even begins, is always a troubling sign. <\/span>\n\nIn fact, the detours that <\/span>Mere Pyaare Prime Minister<\/span><\/i>\u2019s plot takes until it brandishes its social messaging are all tired: There\u2019s uneven commentary on social inequality and a generous dose of virtue-signalling amid an offering of some liberally shot poverty porn. The film\u2019s screenplay \u2013 written by Mehra, Hussain Dalal, and Manoj Mairta \u2013 is way too conscious about the message that it must hold aloft. It\u2019s a classic case of \u201cgood intentions\u201d justifying a lazy script, that for instance, mine jokes from an eight-year-old slum kid distributing condoms. <\/span>\n\n

The detours that Mere Pyaare Prime Minister\u2019s<\/em> plot takes until it brandishes its social messaging are all tired:<\/p><\/blockquote> \n\nIn the midst of election season when Bollywood is all too willing to play along with the ruling party\u2019s narrative, Mehra\u2019s film just adds to that noise. The last two months have already witnessed pro-establishment films like <\/span>Uri: The Surgical Strike<\/span><\/i>, and <\/span>The Accidental Prime Minister <\/span><\/i>whose sole purpose was to criticise the UPA government. Come April, a couple of days after the general election begins, we\u2019ll be treated to another Modi fan-fiction, this time as Vivek Oberoi plays the pyaare Prime Minister, raising questions about the model code of conduct. It\u2019s then hard to argue that the timing of these paeans \u2013 including <\/span>Mere Pyaare Prime Minister<\/span><\/i> \u2013 are just a coincidence or that the ruling party isn\u2019t benefiting from these breathless endorsements. <\/span>\n\nThroughout the film\u2019s 103 minute-long runtime, there wasn\u2019t a single moment when I didn\u2019t find myself wondering about the purpose of <\/span>Mere Pyaare Prime Minister<\/span><\/i>. Unlike, <\/span>Toilet: Ek Prem Katha<\/span><\/i> that starred Akshay Kumar, the film isn\u2019t in a position to raise awareness among the masses \u2013 it\u2019s too late in the day to serve only as an advertisement about the PM\u2019s pet project. Plus it isn\u2019t backed by a big name to function as a PSA. The sombreness of its subject doesn\u2019t allow it to become an entertainment vehicle either. <\/span>Mere Pyaare Prime Minister <\/span><\/i>then is an empty statement: a film that becomes so much about its expired message that it forgets to have a believable story.<\/span>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the midst of election season when Bollywood is all too willing to play along with the ruling party\u2019s narrative, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra\u2019s Mere Pyaare Prime Minister just adds to that noise: a film that is so much about its expired message that it forgets to have a believable story.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":4362,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3114],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4361","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bollywood"],"yoast_head":"\nMere Pyaare Prime Minister: A Poor Cousin of Toilet: Ek Prem Katha<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In the midst of election season when Bollywood is all too willing to play along with the ruling party\u2019s narrative, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra\u2019s Mere Pyaare Prime Minister just adds to that noise: a film that is so much 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