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.