Guwahati: The director and producer of Ishti, the first Sanskrit film that deals with a social theme, G. Prabha, on Tuesday said he was planning a film set in the beautiful landscape of Assam if the state government extended full support to him.

Impressed by the picturesque mountains and rivers of the state, Prabha is now eyeing a ballad based on Kalidasa's Megha Sandesha.

"The project can be a reality if the government extends its full support, including financial help, to me. I have heard that chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal talks of providing subsidies to filmmakers who film in the state and I hope the government will implement the scheme," he said.

Ishti is not the first Sanskrit language film, but the first to deal with a social theme. Sanskrit films based on Adi Sankacharya and the Bhagavad Gita were made in India in 1983 and 1993 respectively.

Prabha, who was earlier head of the department of Oriental languages in Chennai's Loyola College, has earlier made two documentaries - Agnaye and Akkitham.

" Ishti is about freedom from gender inequality and discrimination. The film is about a woman who fights against wrong traditional practices and finally wins. It is an attempt to demystify the Sanskrit language. I wanted to break the accepted notion that Sanskrit is the language only of saints and priests," he said.