After the passing of former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on Thursday, a heated social media exchange erupted between Bollywood actor Anupam Kher and filmmaker Hansal Mehta, who collaborated on the 2019 political drama The Accidental Prime Minister. The dispute began when Hansal endorsed veteran journalist Vir Sanghvi's critique of the film, calling it “one of the worst Hindi movies ever made” and accusing it of spreading “lies” about Singh to tarnish his image. Hansal retweeted Sanghvi's post with a supportive “+100.”

Anupam Kher, who portrayed Dr. Singh in the film, responded by accusing Hansal of hypocrisy. Kher pointed out that Hansal had served as the film's Creative Director, attended the entire shoot in England, and provided creative inputs. In his post, Kher remarked, “The HYPOCRITE in this thread is NOT @virsanghvi... But @mehtahansal was the #CreativeDirector of #TheAccidentalPrimeMinister... So for him to say 100% to #VirSanghvi’s comment is so messed up and full of double standards.” Kher urged Hansal to “own it” instead of seeking “brownie points.”

Hansal responded, admitting he viewed his involvement in the film as a mistake but emphasized he had done his job professionally. He stated, “Of course I own my mistakes... But it doesn’t mean I have to keep defending the film.” He also apologized to Kher, adding, “Apologies if I’ve inadvertently hurt you.”

Kher subsequently resurfaced Hansal’s old tweets praising the film, sharing them with the caption “Without comments,” further fueling the debate.