India, Oct. 31 -- Ali Abbasi's The Apprentice made waves across the world last year around this time, partly for Sebastian Stan's performance as Donald Trump and partly for managing to release a Trump biopic as he bid for a second term as President. India was one of the markets excluded from the film's wide release, as the CBFC withheld certification, refusing to approve it. Eventually, this week, the film found its way to the Indian audiences much belatedly, thanks to streaming.

Before I watched The Apprentice, I was wary of yet another hagiography that turns a polarising figure into an anti-hero, the kind we have seen in American Sniper and the Monster series. But the film surprised me, and pleasantly so. The Apprentice is not about th...