India, Sept. 20 -- Biopics are tricky. You have a ready-made story in someone's life, but there is a fine line between taking creative liberties and whitewashing the subject. Sanju (2018), based on actor Sanjay Dutt's life, faced criticism for blurring the lines. Ajey: The Untold Story of a Yogi tries to walk it, but does it succeed?

Directed by Ravindra Gautam and based on Shantanu Gupta's book The Monk Who Became Chief Minister, the film follows Ajey (Anant Joshi) running a bus in his hometown. Local conflicts push his father to send him for higher studies, and college politics soon disillusion him. He finds refuge in Mahant Avaidyanath's (Paresh Rawal) ashram, and the story traces his rise to become Yogi Adityanath and the Chief Minis...