Top politicos embrace ‘Peepli Live’

If the endorsement of some of the country's top politicians is anything to go by, then Bollywood star Aamir Khan's home production 'Peepli Live' is certainly a hit. Khan on Sunday flew to New Delhi to show the film, dealing with farmer suicides, to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who watched it at his 7 Race Course Road residence along with wife Gursharan Kaur, other family members, and close friends.

Khan had earlier held a screening for members of the opposition NDA, including its senior leader L K Advani. The movie was also shown to MNS chief Raj Thackeray.

"Dr Singh watched the film with interest," an official in the prime minister's office said after the special screening. Khan, the film's director Anusha Rizvi, distributor Ronnie Screwala and actors Raghuvir Yadav and Omkar Das Manikpuri were also present, the official said.

According to Congress sources, several party leaders had recommended the film to the prime minister.

While the prime minister reacted staidly as usual, he was more forthcoming in his comments. He praised the film for its "realistic depiction of village life", but wished that the filmmaker had chosen a subject like implementation of NREGA (rural employment scheme) rather than farmers' suicides.

The 82-year-old Advani, who was a film critic in the RSS mouthpiece 'Organiser' in his early years as a journalist, was impressed by the stark portrayal of rural India in "Peepli Live" but said the film was "distressing" for families affected by the suicides.