Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accompanied by several Cabinet ministers, watched the movie The Sabarmati Report on Monday at the Balyogi Auditorium in Parliament’s library building.
Modi was joined by Union ministers Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, and BJP ally Jitan Ram Manjhi, among others.
The film, which explores the 2002 fire on the Sabarmati Express at Godhra that killed 59 people returning from Ayodhya, claims to reveal the truth behind the incident. Modi, who was Gujarat’s chief minister at the time, reportedly told the audience that this was the first film he had watched since assuming the role of Prime Minister.
Veteran actor Jeetendra and actress Raashii Khanna, who plays a key role in the film, said after the screening that Modi had shared this was the first movie he had seen since becoming Prime Minister.
Vikrant Massey, the lead actor, expressed his delight at the experience of watching the film with Modi.
In a post on Instagram, Massey sharing the photos, said that it was a “day to remember” for the rest of his life.
“Eternally grateful to PM Modi for sparing the time to watch our movie. Your words of appreciation shall never be forgotten,” he wrote in the post.
Jeetendra, who watched the movie alongside Modi for the first time due to his daughter Ekta Kapoor’s involvement as a producer, said, “He (Modi) told me it was the first movie he had seen after becoming Prime Minister.”
Several BJP-ruled states have exempted entertainment tax on the Hindi film. The seven states include Odisha, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Gujarat.
The incident had triggered a major political row as an enquiry commission constituted by the then railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, a Congress ally, had claimed that the fire was an accident. The Gujarat High Court had, however, quashed its findings and termed the commission unconstitutional.
Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat at the time of the incident, which was followed by communal riots, and the state police had blamed a Muslim mob for setting some of the train coaches on fire. Many accused chargesheeted by the police were later convicted in courts.
Earlier, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and minister of state for home Harsh Sanghvi watched the film at City Gold in Ahmedabad.
The film was released on November 15 across the country and received praise from politicians, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Mohan Yadav, among others.
Earlier, replying to a user’s post on X praising the film, PM Modi said, “Well said. It is good that this truth is coming out, and that too in a way common people can see it.”
“A fake narrative can persist only for a limited period of time. Eventually, the facts will always come out!” Modi, who was the Chief Minister of Gujarat in 2002, said in the post.
