A court in Muzaffarpur, Bihar, on Tuesday ordered the lodging of an FIR against actors Anupam Kher, Akshaye Khanna and 15 others associated with the upcoming movie The Accidental Prime Minister based on the tenure of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Sub Divisional Judge (East), Gaurab Kamal directed the Kanti police station in the district to lodge an FIR based on a complaint from advocate Sudhir Kumar Ojha, who moved the court on January 2 last with the complaint that the movie presented Mr. Singh and a number of other public figures in “bad light.”

In his complaint, Mr. Ojha named Mr. Kher (who plays Manmohan Singh), as well as Akshaye Khanna, who plays Mr. Singh’s media advisor Sanjaya Baru, on whose book the movie is said to be based upon.

Others named in the complaint include actors essaying the roles of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Congress president (then national general secretary) Rahul Gandhi, former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, his deputy Lal Krishna Advani and RJD leader Lalu Prasad.

The movie’s producer, director and other key persons associated with the project were also named in the complaint.

The complainant had alleged that he felt hurt upon watching the promos of the movie, scheduled for release on January 11, wherein the public figures were portrayed in a manner that projected a poor image of the country.

The advocate had lodged his complaints under IPC sections 295, 153, 153A, 293, 504 and 120B which relate to promoting enmity between different groups, sale of obscene objects, insult with intent to provoke breach of peace and criminal conspiracy.