The review of the movie in a film magazine. A file picture

Ranchi, Nov. 1: Naseeruddin Shah and Amol Palekar shared the screen in Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s whodunit Khamosh and Shyam Benegal’s Bhumika, but few know there’s one treasure lying in the cans which Bollywood buffs have never seen.

It’s called Nirvana, and it has a Jharkhand connection. The film, made in the early eighties but canned after a dispute, was mainly shot in Lohardaga, home to the Sahu family, which hosted the crew at their sprawling farmhouse.

Now, Durgesh Sahu, a young entrepreneur and son of businessman Nandlal Sahu, who owned the farmhouse, is making efforts to release the film and is in talks with Adlabs, which has the reels.

According to Durgesh, Jalal Agha, the late actor, decided to make a film based in Lohardaga where he had spent holidays at the farmhouse of Nandlal, his school friend.

Agha took a liking to the beauty of the place and wrote a script where environment triumphs over material gains. He called it Nirvana.

Agha, who produced and directed the film, roped in Naseeruddin and Palekar for the lead roles and Sarika was chosen the lead actress. Tinnu Anand, Agha’s brother-in-law who was to soon make Kaalia with Amitabh Bachchan, too starred in what was perhaps his first acting role.

The plot revolves around a Mumbai airhostess (Sarika), who comes on a hunting holiday with friend (Naseeruddin) to the Lohardaga house of Nandlal Sahu where Tinnu Anand is also present. Sarika is excited about hunting, but her heart changes after she sees a tear dropping from the eyes of a just-killed deer. She falls in love with the village and decides to make it her home.

The low-budget film depicts Jharkhand at its scenic best and could have paved the way for more movies in the state, but a petty dispute between Agha and his financier delayed its release and ultimately led to it being canned.

Durgesh, who is trying to get the film released with help of Tinnu Anand, said he recently spoke to Adlabs owner Manmohan Shetty to enquire about the condition of the reel. “We are trying to get it released. If possible, we will also try to get the film dubbed in English. Jalal Agha used to say this film was made ahead of its time and I am sure it is as relevant today, when environment is such an important issue,” he said.

Those who have sneaked a peek can’t help gushing about the performances, especially that of Sarika who was at her best in the “slow but thinking” film. Not surprisingly, the actress, desperate then to shed her “westernised vamp” image, was apparently even ready to sell her property in Mumbai to ensure its release.

Durgesh claims Nirvana was appreciated by the likes of Rajiv Gandhi and Rekha.

Ghazal singer Jagjit Singh, who had by then started playback singing and had made a foray into film music (Prem Geet, Arth), composed the score. A few songs were recorded with Abhijeet, then a struggling singer looking for his first break, and Hariharan.

There is an interesting story behind the making of Nirvana. Says Durgesh: “Jalal Agha and my father were contemporaries in Scindia School. My father was a year senior, but very close to him. Their friendship continued even after school. The idea to produce the film was conceived by Agha during the seventies when he first visited our farmhouse in Lohardaga. He lived in a flat in Mumbai and the life in Lohardaga enamoured him to rural life. He thought that rural India life was much better than the mechanical existence in Mumbai. He fell in love with the place and finally the movie started in 1980. The film was completed in three years. The entire star cast camped in the farmhouse on two occasions for one to two months duration,” Durgesh said.

Durgesh’s uncle, the late Sheo Prasad Sahu, a two-term MP from Ranchi, and many employees of their now-closed Nandgaon Seed Farm also acted in the film. Durgesh says he wants to get Nirvana released as a tribute to Agha’s mother who lives in Pune. “It will be a tribute to her,” he says.