Obra MLA Som Prakash (extreme right) with the crew of the film in Patna on Tuesday. Picture by Nagendra Kumar Singh

Patna, Feb. 8: The interest of politicians of the state came in the limelight yet again today, when Obra Assembly seat MLA Som Prakash clapped a shot during the muhurat of a documentary film.

Prakash attended the first day of shooting of The Return of Jagadish Chandra Bose and lauded the efforts of the film’s director and producer.

The film will showcase the exemplary life and works of the great scientist, who pioneered research in radio waves, even before Marconi. It will also address various environmental issues, in which Bose was interested.

“It is great that filmmakers and actors are coming to the state once again. This will send out a strong message. The society in Bihar is changing fast and it has once again become conducive for art,” said Prakash, visibly excited by the shooting process.

He added: “Bose was a Bengali scientist, who worked in Calcutta. The producers of the film could have easily chosen to go there. But they chose Patna instead. This proves the potential of our state.”

Rajmani Creations and Akshat Motion Pictures Private Limited are producing the film, whose shooting began in front of the Secretariat. Pramod Moutho, who played a key role in Khalnayak, is acting in the film.

Director Santosh Badal said: “The film deals with the issue of saving trees, that Jagdish Chandra Bose had advocated. He used to say that trees were living beings and needed to be treated with care. But all across India and the world, trees are being cut on a large scale. This has serious repercussions.

“People should be made aware of the importance of protecting the greenery, that is disappearing fast. It is essential to plant two saplings for every tree that is cut down. We wish to convey these messages through our films,” said Badal.

Monika Singh, producer of the film, said: “I have always wanted to finance a film on environment. When Santosh showed me the script, I really liked it and decided to go ahead with it. Our main focus will be the environment and Bose’s relation to it.

“Our target audience are the youths. We have decided to show the film first in schools, colleges and educational institutions before a theatre release,” Singh added.

The MLA was pleased with the environmental focus of the film.

“I appreciate the initiative of the producers of the film. It is very important to make people aware of the threat faced by the environment. I think films are the right media to spread the message,” said Prakash, who was an inspector before donning the cap of a politician.

Singh said the film, that will be around 2 hours long, was being made on a shoestring budget of Rs 1.75 crore.

“It will be shot in four states — Bihar, Sikkim, Gujarat and Mumbai. The shooting will be completed in 45 days,” said Singh.

She added that locations such as Patna Junction, Golghar, Patna Museum and Planetarium have been chosen for the shooting.