The tale of a 14-year-old Jamui boy's fight against the zamindari system in pre-Independence India and his arrest by the British government is headed for the big screen.
Bringing the inspiring story to screen are Rajhans Kumar and Amit Singh, both with roots in Gaya.
"The story revolves around freedom fighter Shri Krishna Singh, alias Kristo Singh," said Rajhans, the film's producer who was a promoter of the Katrina Kaif and John Abraham-starrer New York.
"Very few people know about him. We want to make people aware of his struggle at such a tender age. Kristo and other farmers opposed the zamindari system in 1933. The British police had lathi-charged the protesters. But Kristo pelted stones at them in retaliation. He spent 18 months in Munger jail, where he incidentally met great leaders such as Ram Manohar Lohia, Jayaprakash Narayan and Acharya Narendra Deo. The brief meets with them changed the life of little Kristo." Kristo died in Patna in 1986.
The Hindi movie on the teenage hero will be the debut venture of Mumbai-based Maven and Daven Films.
Amit Singh, the grandson of Kristo Singh and a businessman in Mumbai, and Rajhans are jointly producing the film to spread awareness about this patriot from Bihar.
It took months for the duo to sift through old newspapers and books to retrieve as much information as possible about Kristo Singh from Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library, Gandhi Sangrahalaya, Vidhan Sabha library and Sinha library. They found his story motivating.
"After Kristo was released from jail, he formed a group of rebels and attacked dozens of zamindars, damaged treasuries and other British offices in Bihar," added Rajhans. "The then government of Bihar in 1939 had offered reward of Rs 25,000 for the arrest of Kristo Singh and assigned the Baloch regiment to capture him dead or alive. I hope to do justice to the great hero. This movie is our attempt to pay tribute to such unsung heroes."
Another son of the soil, music director Ricky Mishra, is making his directorial debut with this film. Ricky started his career with Punjabi pop singer Mika in a 2009 album called Nazrein Milane Wali.
"The first song recreates the 1930s era. The song, Vande Mataram, has been sung by Krishna Beura, widely known for his song Maula Mere from Chak De India. I am sure the way Maula Mere was loved by the audience, this will also be widely accepted," said Ricky.
The movie on Kristo Singh has five songs written by lyricist Shekhar Astitva.
"The other songs will be recorded by the end of March and the shooting will be start from the first week of March. Shreya Ghoshal and KK will sing a duet and Kailash Kher will sing a sad romantic number," said Rajhans.
The film will be shot in Mumbai, Bihar and Jharkhand.
The movie was announced on November 25 with a mahurat and the song recording. The cast will be finalised by March, for which there will be auditions in February.
