| He tore himself off from his wife's embrace...",
recounts P. C. Alexander on what transpired between Rajiv and Sonia
Gandhi on that fateful day of October, 1984 in "Rajiv",
an exhaustive documentary on the life and times of Rajiv Gandhi. The
decision to take on the Prime Minister's job was not easy for Rajiv.
Talking about what was going on in his mind that day, Pranab Mukherjee
reveals in the documentary that Rajiv asked him "Do you think
I can manage?”
The documentary goes on to look at the challenges faced by Rajiv
in running the affairs of the state. On the historic "power-brokers"
speech that Rajiv gave at the Congress centenary session, Arjun
Singh reveals that despite some hesitation among top leaders Rajiv
went ahead with it.
The hour long documentary features many of Rajiv's friends and
colleagues like Sam Pitroda and G. Parthasarthy. In an interesting
conversation, Mani Shankar Aiyar, his senior in Doon School and
a colleague later, recounts how Rajiv evolved as a person to lead
the nation.
This documentary is next in the series of short films produced
by Zee News on historic figures like Subhash Chandra Bose, Bhagat
Singh, Jinnah, Lal Bahadur Shastri and Indira Gandhi.
"Rajiv" will be aired on Zee News at 9:00 pm on 21 May,
On the 15th death anniversary of Rajiv Gandhi.
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