Those who are looking forward to social activist, Anna Hazare's biopic, Anna: Kisan Baburao Hazare, which covers 65 years of his life, should be ready for a big disappointment as Arvind Kejriwal will be missing from the film. By TEAM VIVA
“We have shown 65 years of Anna ji’s life and in those 65 years lot of people came and went, we have given apt attention to the characters which were required. It’s the film on Anna ji and not on any other person. The journey of this film revolves around Anna ji’s perspective. Anna’s work is much broader than what we saw in Ramlila Maidan. He has made eight laws in Maharastra before. Whoever left an impact on his life will definitely be a part of the film,” said Shashank Udapurkar (actor, director and writer of the film)dressed as Anna.“It took me a year-and-half to research on his life and almost two years to pen the script. Even the script was written twice. When I approached Anna ji with the proposal of a movie on him, he suggested me to make one on Gandhi ji or Swami Vivekananda. I somehow managed to persuade him,” he added.
Anna who was also there was all smiles and didn’t want to talk about anything but the film. But he was bombarded with the obvious questions. When questioned about Delhi’s Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, asking proof of surgical strikes, Anna said, “I was travelling all day and had no idea about this but now that you are mentioning it, I think it is unfair to ask for proof of surgical strikes. I condemn this. The matter is related to the army, our country and the border. At this time, it is wrong to not trust the army. There was a lot planning done for the operation, this couldn’t have been possible without the planning. In such a case, we cannot mistrust our army”.
Talking about his film, Anna said, “This isn’t any imaginary story, it’s based on my life. Major part of the movie is shot in my village Ralegan Siddhi in Ahmednagar district. As Mahatma Gandhi used to say, if you want to develop the nation, develop your village first. You will get to know a lot on how to develop the village once you watch the film. The commitment and dedication with which Shashank has worked in the film, I don’t think anyone else would have portrayed me better.” The much-anticipated biopic on veteran Gandhian and social crusader Kisan Baburao Hazare, aka Anna Hazare, is ready and slated for an all-India release on October 14, the film’s producers said on Tuesday. The film also stars Tanishaa Mukerji in a supporting role.
Photo: Pankaj Kumar