Patna: Fifty-one years after Basu Bhattacharya's Teesri Kasam which was based on Phanishwar Nath Renu's story Mare Gaye Gulfam, another film based on the iconic Bihari writer's story Panchlait hits the silver screen across India on November 17.

Renu's heart-warming stories have always evoked interest among filmmakers but Teesri Kasam, starring Raj Kapoor and Waheeda Rehman and directed by Basu Bhattacharya, was the only movie on Renu's story that saw light of day in 1966.

Till now.

"I always had Phanishwar Nath Renu's stories in mind for my next venture," Prem Modi, director of Panchlait, said at a news meet in Patna on Wednesday. "The simplicity in his stories is irresistible and growing up in Bengal I believe I have acquired a literary bent of mind. Besides, I wanted to go pan India and Hindi had to be my medium of communication this time. The storyline of Panchlait is straight from the Hindi heartland and I'm sure audiences around the country will relate to it."

Panchlait is the story of a kerosene lamp (which uses paraffin and a hand-pump), which plays an integral part in a villager's life and possessing one is a mark of honour.

The film revolves around a specific village community, Mahato Tola, acquiring the coveted lamp after much ado and the chain of incidents leading up to it. The story line is hinged on multiple and layered social interactions and an ethereal romance brewing between the lead characters.

The ensemble cast of Panchlait boasts of National School of Drama graduates and theatre artists such as Yashpal Sharma, Rajesh Sharma, Ravi Jhankal, Brijendra Kala, Lalit Parimoo, Pranay Narrayan, Iqbal Sultan, Malini Sengupta, Kalpana Jha, Amitosh Nagpal (who has acted in Dabangg, Aarakshan and Rangrez) and Anuradha (a trained classical dancer and actress).

This is Modi's second directorial outing after Arjun (2013), a Bengali feature film based on a novel by writer Samaresh Majumdar and starring Sabyasachi Chakraborty, Dipankar Dey, Manoj Mitra, Churni Ganguly and others.