Piccha being shot in Bhagalpur. Picture by Amit Kumar

They have been ignored, they have been cheated. But soon a short film on the lives of people living in the riverine belt of Bhagalpur would showcase what they have been enduring for years.

Mumbai-based production house Vibgyor International Media is on a visit to Bhagalpur to shoot a short film — Piccha (follow) — on the lifestyle of the residents of the diaras (islands of river Ganga). The film will be shot in Hindi and Angika (a local dialect of Anga Pradesh).

“Even after 65 years of Independence, the people living in the diaras, who have contributed so much to the state’s economy by producing foodgrain, vegetables and milk, are still compelled to live pathetic lives because of government apathy. The government introduced the land ceiling act but failed to implement it properly. This is the subject of the film,” said Bhagalpur diara inhabitant Ramkishore, who is also the writer of Piccha.

Screenwriter Jafar Dabloo said since the entire film is based on the lives of the people of the diaras, the dialogues have been written in Hindi and Angika. The film is based on the struggles of a diara farmer Vidashi (played by Jayant Jalad) and his wife (enacted by Bhojpuri actress Kiran Sha).

Happy Rajesh, a resident of Bhagalpur, is directing the Rs 3-lakh film. Piccha is slated for a July release. The crew, which has been shooting the film for a week now, would wrap it up on Friday.

Ignoring the scorching heat on Thursday, when the temperature soared to 42°C, Kiran Sha, who was sweating profusely near a maize field, was seen giving a shot. “I had to spend a few days here to know the area because of the film. I wonder how people live here. There are so many problems in the diaras,” Sha said.

Jalad, a theatre artiste, also appreciated the struggle of the villagers in the absence of basic infrastructure. “It’s a struggle for existence here. There is no one to give credit to the villagers, who bring revenue to the state by producing foodgrain and milk,” said filmmaker Happy Rajesh.