Ashok Ghayal in Hazaribagh on Thursday. Picture by Vishvendu Jaipuriar

In the Bhojpuri entertainment industry, he is known as the man who makes films hum to life.

Well-known music director, lyricist and scriptwriter Ashok Ghayal is now all set to don the director’s cap.

To overcome butterflies in his stomach as a first-time film-maker, Ghayal has decided to shoot the film in the state of his birth — Jharkhand.

For the next 25 days, the scenic locales of Hazaribagh will see the shooting of Shivcharcha — Ek Adhyatamik Jagaran, a devotional film based on two sisters and the impact of Lord Shiva on their lives.

At Hotel Aranya Vihar, Hazaribagh, where the film’s cast and crew met the media on Thursday, Ghayal said he hailed from Kujju in Ramgarh. For someone familiar with Hazaribagh’s visual delights, the choice of location-shoot was easy.

“Till now, I was active in Bhojpuri industry as a music director, script-writer and lyricist. I had written the script for the Amitabh Bachchan-starrer Ganga,” he added.

Produced by Archit Anand, the film with 19 songs has a budget of Rs 75 lakh. Shooting will start on Friday in presence of deputy superintendent of police (sadar) Satish Jha at Hotel Aranya Vihar.

The story is of an infertile woman, a surrogate mother and prevalent social evils. Vulgarity is a strict no-no.

The films leading actors , Pratibha Pandey and Vinay Anand, sounded thrilled with the scenic beauty of Jharkhand. A known face in Bhojpuri films, Vinay is Bollywood actor Govinda’s nephew.

“I hope to popularise Jharkhand as a tourist destination through my films,” Ghayal signed off.