Gajendra Chauhan to play Narendra Modi in Ek Aur Naren

Gajendra Chauhan, one of the stars of BR Chopra's 1988 television serial Mahabharat and the man whose appointment as chairman of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune, in 2015 triggered a storm of protest, is set to play prime minister Narendra Modi in the movie Ek Aur Naren.

The mahurat of the film took place on Saturday in Kolkata, West Bengal. The state will be going to the polls in April and May to elect a new assembly. Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is straining every sinew to unseat the Trinamool Congress of chief minister Mamata Banerjee.

News of the casting was shared by Chauhan yesterday. He shared a picture from the event on Twitter where he is dressed up as Modi and wrote, “It is matter of great honour that I will be playing the role of our hon’ble prime minister in a Hindi film Ek Aur Naren."

Produced by Swapnashree Production, Ek Aur Naren is being directed by Bengali filmmaker Milan Bhowmik, who has quite a few films to his credit. His previous film Nirbhoya (2018) was based on the infamous December 2012 rape case in the national capital.

A poster for the film unveiled at the event had the picture of Swami Vivekananda, who was born Narendranath Datta and also known as Naren.

Ek Aur Naren is yet another biopic on Modi after Omung Kumar's dud PM Narendra Modi (2019) and the better-received web-series Modi: Journey Of A Common Man (2019) which saw Vivek Oberoi and Mahesh Thakur, respectively, play the prime minister. Sanjay Leela Bhansali also has an upcoming biopic on Modi titled Mann Bairagi. The film is said to be based on the prime minister's younger days.

Still best known for his act as Yudishthir in Chopra's classic television serial, Chauhan has been a vocal supporter of Modi and BJP for a long time now. He is also known for his controversial tweets in favour of the ruling party and its Hindutva ideology.

Yesterday itself, a tweet of his triggered controversy when he wrote, without citing any evidence, “It is very important for India population. Some religious community people are producing 5-6 babies to increase their religion in India. (sic)"