New attraction

Jamshedpur, Feb. 8: Faces that till now set the city stage on fire would soon be seen on silver screens across the country.

Come March, the first full-length feature film, produced and directed by steel city stage stalwarts would be released.

Titled Ae Sipahi Saiya, this two-and-a-half-hour Bhojpuri film has been produced by Sanskar Films Private limited, a city-based production house and directed by Md Nizam, a common name in theatres here.

“This is will be the first-ever full production from Jamshedpur to be released. Prior to this, only Santhali films have been shot here but they were released at a local level,” said Md Nizam, a former student of the National School of Drama, Delhi.

The lead roles would be played by Dev Malhotra and Alok Verma — known names in the Bhojpuri film circle who have worked with Balaji Telefilms. From stalwarts like Krishna Sinha, who has acted in over 200 stage plays in the steel city, to young filmmaker Dipika Banerjee and a dozen small-time actors from different small theatre groups in the city — it’s an all-Jamshedpur cast.

The script and music has also been given by steel city residents. “The music has been given by father-son duo Kishan and Deepanjan Rai. While Kishan has worked for over 30 years in Mumbai, Deep is still working with some established names there,” said the director.

While the recording has been done in Calcutta, the dubbing was done at Anjali Studios in Golmuri.

Made at an estimated cost of Rs 30 lakh and scheduled to be released across Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Bengal and Maharashtra, the producers would initially launch over 10 prints in the market. “It’s a small budget film and a small production. So, only limited prints would be launched. Initially, we are only targeting the states with Bhojpuri-speaking people and areas such as this will give us a good start,” said Sanjeev Jaiswal, a partner of Sanskar Films — the company that has financed the project.

“The film is ready and now we are waiting for a nod from the film certification board so that it can be released.

“There is tremendous potential in the city. Several people from here are leaving for Delhi and Mumbai each year due to the lack of opportunities here. We wanted to give them a platform to help them display their skills on a national platform,” added Nizam.