Veteran actor Vikram Gokhale is the latest artiste to play India’s prime minister Narendra Modi. It will be for an upcoming web-series titled India Strikes Back, which is based on the aftermath of the Pulwama terror attack that took place early last year.
“I am doing a web-series titled India Strikes Back," Gokhale told Cinestaan.com in an exclusive interview. "The series is based on the lesson we taught [to Pakistan] after the Pulwama attack and the events around it. I am playing PM Modi in it.”
Gokhale has praised the prime minister on quite a few occasions in the past. When it was pointed out to him that he has been an admirer of the PM, he was quick to reply, “Not every time. He has also faltered sometimes.”
But Gokhale believes Modi’s pluses overshadow his minuses. “He has succeeded in doing what we couldn’t do in many years," he said. "I don’t want to get into the debate on how true or false it is. But he has fulfilled the wishes of a majority of the population from all religions and castes.”
In the recent past, actors like Vivek Oberoi and Mahesh Thakur have played Modi in the film PM Narendra Modi (2019) and the web-series Modi: Journey Of The Common Man, respectively. Rajit Kapoor’s character in Uri: The Surgical Strike (2019) was also based upon Modi. Mangesh Hadawale’s short film Chalo Jeete Hain (2018) was based on Modi’s childhood.
That’s not all. The upcoming film Mann Bairagi will feature Modi’s youth years when he is said to have left home and roamed around the country. Directed by Sanjay Tripathy, that film is produced by Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Mahaveer Jain.