*PM Narendra Modi 's favourite Film inspired him to take up social work,left Superstar bankrupt, remake flopped in*

 

Everyone has favourites when it comes to works of art, such is the subjective nature of creative arts. Cinema is no different. Even those who don't find time to watch a lot of films tend to have their preferences and favourites.

One such name is Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Although not an avid movie buff, PM Modi has, in the past, spoken about a few films he has liked, including the one that remains his absolute favourite.

PM Modi's favourite film is...

The 1965 Dev Anand film Guide is PM Modi's favourite. The Prime Minister's official website explains his choice through a quote from the man himself. 'I am generally not inclined towards movies. But I used to watch them in my youth, out of that curiosity which only youth brings. Even then, it was never my temperament to watch movies just for entertainment. Instead, it was in my habit to search for lessons for life in the stories those movies told. I recall that, once, I went with some of my teachers and friends to watch the famous Hindi movie Guide that was based on a novel by RK Narayan. And, after the movie, I got into an intense debate with my friends. My argument was that the central idea in the movie was that, ultimately, everyone gets guided by his or her inner soul. But since I was too young, my friends did not take me seriously.' The PM reiterated that Guide is his favourite film in 2018 during an interaction with a group of children from Ladakh at his residence.

How Guide inspired PM Modi

As per the PM's official website, Guide made an impression on him for another purpose, it exposed him to the grim reality of drought and the visual imagery of helplessness that lack of water brings to farmers. Guide, based on RK Narayan's bestselling novel The Guide, told the story Raju, a tiur guide-turned-convict, who finds himself being mistaken for a messiah by people in a drought-hit area. The Vijay Anand film has been ranked among India's best films in various lists around the world. The PM's website says that the impression Guide made on him later helped him devote a substantial portion of his tenure in Gujarat in promoting institutionalised mechanisms of water conservation.

The topsy-turvy making of Guide

Written and directed by Vijay Anand, Guide was produced by Dev Anand as a bilingual. The Hindi version was directed by Vijay Anand while the English version was directed by Tad Danielewski. Nobel laureate Pearl S Buck was hired to write the script. The 2-hour English version differed a lot from the novel and Hindi version and was a massive flop. This affected the fortunes of the Hindi version, which was still under production. Distributors refused to buy it as they thought it was the same film as the doomed Hollywood version. In the end, Dev Anand had to invest every single rupee he had in the film. When it released in April 1965, Guide was a runaway success.