Bhojpuri film ‘Kaalia’ completes shoot in Naxal stronghold: Jehanabad
Jehanabad: believe it or not, according to a latest report, a Bhojpuri film has just completed its shooting schedule at a site that lies right at the heart of Naxalite stronghold in Bihar – Jehanabad! The subject of the film? Feudal tyranny and the peasant’s fight against the landlord! But then this is not a subject uncommon in Bhojpuri films where the village Thakur often turns out the villain.
It is definitely for the first time in the recent history of Bihar that a film maker Hyder Kazmi selected Jehanabad, a Naxalite stronghold, to shoot for his Bhojpuri film, Kaalia, at a village called Pali in Kako block. Ninety per cent of the film, produced by Kazmi, has been shot in Pali. The shooting began from February 14 and ended a few days ago.
“We spent almost a month in the village. Our crew had 175 members, of whom 90 were from Mumbai. It was a challenging task to convince them and other artistes to come to Jehanabad. They were scared because of the Maoist activity in the district,” Kazmi, who is playing the lead role in the film, told a reporter.
Most Bhojpuri film producers choose Sitamarhi, Muzaffarpur, Darbhanga, Vai-shali, Ara, Buxar, Sasaram and Motihari as the locations for their films. But no filmmaker has ever been to Jehanabad to shoot. “No major untoward incident has occurred in Jehanabad during the regime of Nitish Kumar. The situation has improved considerably,” said the producer.
The director of the film, Shivram Yadav, also appeared happy with the location and the law and order arrangements. “It is a beautiful place and we got all support from the administration and the residents. I had read about the district in various newspapers and magazines. I was initially reluctant to visit Jehanabad. But Hyder told me that the situation has changed. He was right,” he added.
Even as the central Home ministry goes on the offensive against the Maoists, losing many of its personnel in the process, the ‘soft power’ of movies has perhaps proved more potent – there were no land mines to face for the film crew during the entire month-long stretch in Jehanabad!
Bihardays will leave the moral of the story to its readers!
[Courtesy: The Telegraph]