Gestating for nearly two decades, director Shoojit Sircar’s dream project, a biopic on Indian revolutionary nationalist Udham Singh, is set to become a reality.
Sircar, who produced last year’s hit film Pink, says he wanted to make the movie on Udham Singh right after he shifted to Mumbai.
“I have been working on the story for 18-19 years now. When I shifted to Mumbai, this was the first film that I wanted to make but something else would always come up. It is set in pre-Independence India, so it was a little difficult to plan,” said Sircar.
The director says his visit to Jallianwala Bagh in the ’90s triggered the idea for the film on Singh, who assassinated Michael O’Dwyer, the former Lieutenant Governor of Punjab in British India in 1940, to avenge the 1919 massacre.
“In the ’90s we had a group in Delhi called Act One which had me, Piyush Mishra and Ashish Vidyarthi. We used to sing songs of national harmony.
“During this time, Punjab was coming out of turmoil. I visited the Golden Temple and Jallianwala Bagh at that time. When I went there and saw what actually happened there, that triggered me emotionally,” he said.
Sircar, who has films such as Yahaan, Vicky Dina, Madras Cafe and Piku to his credit, says Singh is a forgotten hero.
“He was one of the prominent faces of the freedom movement but youngsters don’t know much about this martyr. He is a forgotten hero. Through my film, I want the youngsters to know him,” he said.
Sircar has already started work on the film but didn’t divulge casting details.
The director is also collaborating with his Piku scriptwriter, Juhi Chaturvedi, on a love story.
“Juhi and I are working again after Vicky Donor and Piku. We share a very good rapport. It is a simple love story. There will be issues around it. We are currently working on it. We are producing with Ronnie Lahiri. I will direct both the films,” said Sircar.
He is also one the producers of Runningshaadi.com, which has been directed by Amit Roy, and stars Amit Sadh and Taapsee Pannu.
Talking about Pink, which has been hailed as one of the strongest movies to come out of Bollywood last year, Sircar says they were careful in keeping the story’s integrity intact.
“When you make a film like Pink, you are working on the edge. We were very careful about the integrity of the issue. With Pink, we tried to address all the issues that women face. We decided to open up completely so that there is no debate left.
“Similarly, Vicky Donor could have easily been slapstick but I knew that the topic we were dealing with was serious. So, we walked a thin line,” he added.
