Akshaye Khanna will play the role of Manmohan Singh’s media advisor Sanjaya Baru in the adaptation of Baru’s memoir The Accidental Prime Minister: The Making and Unmaking of Manmohan Singh (2014). Directed by debutant Vijay Ratnakar Gutte, The Accidental Prime Minister will star Anupam Kher as the former Prime Minister, and is aiming for a December 21, 2018.

Baru’s book is an account of his time as Singh’s media advisor between 2004 and 2008. “This film is a celebration of the Indian democracy and its innate resilience across diversities,” Gutte told the Mumbai Mirror in an interview. “It seeks to champion truth as its only agenda.”

Khanna sports a salt-and-pepper hairdo in the first look released by the filmmakers. “I am thrilled and excited to be a part of a venture which will be path-breaking and a game-changer on many levels,” Khanna told the tabloid. “Having a role in the film is secondary. I think it is an important movie and even if my role in it was insignificant, I would have still done it.”