Jisshu Sengupta with Indrani Halder, and (below) Rimjhim Gupta in Bhumiputra

Class conflict, religious strife and all-conquering love, sprinkled generously with song, dance and fight stunts. The latest offering from Spandan Films, which kicked off with Rituparno Ghosh's Unishe April a decade ago, is a commercial potboiler with an underlying social message.

Bhumiputra, on the floors under Raj Mukherjee's direction, stars Tapas Pal, Indrani Halder, Jisshu Sengupta and Rimjhim Gupta. Against the backdrop of rural life with farmers and rice mills, Mukherjee has woven two love stories sweeping two generations.

'We plan to make six to seven commercial films by the middle of next year and follow that up with an arthouse film,' says Renu Roy of Spandan Films, whose works include co-productions like the Ashoke Viswanathan-directed Byatikrami and Bappaditya Bandopadhyay's Devaki, starring Perizaad Zorabian and Suman Ranganathan. Both films are due for release. 'Bhumiputra will have 75 per cent non-urban audience but is also meant to cut across cross-sections in big towns. It's a film of the soil,' adds Roy, who finds producing a bunch of films at one go a cost-effective strategy.

Shot on location in Burdwan and on the city's outskirts, Bhumiputra revolves around a Hindu girl (Indrani) and a Muslim man (Tapas) who are separated while fleeing Bangladesh during Mukti Juddha. Many years later, they meet in a village in Bengal, where Tapas fights for the rights of rice mill workers and Indrani is a block development officer. Though their love is unrequited, a second love story blooms through Jisshu and Rimjhim, who tie the knot in the face of class conflicts. The indoor shots for the film are being canned at Indrapuri Studios.

'The issue is something our rural audiences will immediately identify with. And we are making it in a commercial format to have a wider reach. The script is very easy-going with song, dance and fight sequences,' confirms director Mukherjee, who borrowed the idea for the film from an agro-scientist friend involved in building advanced rice mills. Mukherjee's Nagordola starring Rupa Ganguly, Indrani Halder and Samata Das is also slated for release.

For Indrani, who matures from a victim of circumstances into a woman of substance in the course of the film, the role marks something of a return to commercial ventures. 'I am really enjoying it more because Bhumiputra combines all the essential ingredients of a mainstream film with a social message,' says Indrani.

After wrapping up the Bhumiputra shoot, Spandan Films will move on to its next project by end-July, a 'middle of the road' film with a lot of psychological layering, also to be directed by Raj Mukherjee.