Manoj Hansraj during the shooting of his film in Jamshedpur. Picture by Bhola Prasad

Jamshedpur, May 10: Not only is the Bhojpuri film industry growing big but youngsters from the steel city are making it big in tinsel town.

The city which set a record by beginning the first-ever Bhojpuri portal in the world — Bhojpuria.com — now has a host of talented people walking the line to the likes of Ravi Kishen and Nagma.

A post-graduate in political science from Jamshedpur Co-operative College, Manoj Hansraj (31) is the latest to join the bandwagon. Having started his career in Bollywood more than a decade ago as assistant director in Iqbal Durani’s Govinda and Karisma Kapur starrer Khuddar in 1990, Hansraj finally shifted to Bhojpuri films.

In the past five years, he has managed to make a mark in the Bhojpuri film industry and worked as actor and scriptwriter in more than a dozen movies.

“Initially, I did not realise the potential of Bhojpuri films and was a bit reluctant in the early years of my career. When I can to know about the growing audience not only in the country but also 25 nations across the globe, I decided to give it a try,” said Hansraj.

One of the projects he is working on — Anup Jalota’s Ganga Tohre Desh Mein — was shot in the city today.

“The other important projects in my hand are of Tinu Verma, Ektaa Kapoor and Kehsu Ramsay. I am also writing the script for a couple of Hindi films to be produced by Tinu Verma one of which is named Tandav,” said Hansraj.