'The President…' - satire on India's fixation with the west

New Delhi, Jan 4: The timing for Kunaal Roy Kapoor's directorial debut The President Is Coming could not be perfect. Laden with satire, the film, releasing Jan 9 pays a farewell to US President George W. Bush, who is serving his last few weeks in the White House.

The film was earlier scheduled for Nov 27 release, but was postponed because of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. However, Kapur is now confident his film's release won't be delayed further.

"The film is not so much about Bush. It's about what he represents in the minds of people. Now that the president is going, my 'president' is coming. This is my farewell gift to George Bush," Kapur, who has directed the same plot on stage, had earlier told IANS.

Kapur has made the film with the same cast that he used for the theatrical version - debutante Ira Dubey, Namit Das, Anand Tiwari, Satchik Puranik and Vivek Gomber. The only addition is Konkona Sen Sharma.

Produced by Rohan Sippy, the film is set in 1996 and traces the story of six contestants, who participate in a competition, the winner of which will get to meet the US president on his visit to India.

Written by Anuvab Pal, who scripted “Loins of Punjab Presents”, the film uses rib-tickling humour as a tool to highlight serious issues like globalisation and India's blind obsession with the West.

“George Bush is more a state of mind than a person in my film. We never see him on screen the way we did in Apoorva Lakhia's 'Mission Istaanbul'. It's (the film) more about the fixation we in this country have with international celebrities than a comment on global politics," said Kapur.

Last year most of the small budget movies failed to excite the audience. Failure of films like "Sorry Bhai!", "Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye", "Maharathi" and "Dil Kabaddi" has broken the myth that small is successful.

"The President Is Coming", one of the first Hindi releases of the year, may change the economics of small-budget films at the box office.

--IANS