Jharkhand film policy a big draw for directors from Bengal

Its rugged but beautiful landscape would always attract a steady footfall, but a film policy has now come as a bonus for Jharkhand. What with the Jharkhand government encouraging filmmakers to come up with movies in the state’s spoken languages like Santhali, Ho, Oraon, Nagpuri, Oriya, Bangla, Bhojpuri, many from Bengal are making a beeline for the neighbouring state.

While Goutam Ghose shot his Hindi feature, Rahgir, last year, Suman Ghosh made his first Hindi film, Aadhaar, in the backdrop of the state a few months back. Now, Rajaditya Banerjee is shooting his first Bengali film, Shivaratri, in the state and Rituparna Sengupta, one of the top actors from Tollywood, will head to Jharkhand end-April for Bansuri, starring Anurag Kashyap.
Srijit Mukherji, who shot his debut Hindi film, Begum Jaan, in Jharkhand, had received a subsidy of `2 crore from the state. The team received the cheque directly from the Jharkhand chief minister at his office and Srijit even admitted that it was a big help for the production. Ghose, who shot his film with Neeraj Kabi, Tillotama Shome and Adil Hussain and several other actors from Jharkhand, had earlier told us about the shoot, “Everything went extremely well and the government was more than supportive at every step. When we were shooting the Netarhat segment of the film, we were warned that it was a sensitive area, but we found something entirely different. The small villages were picturesque to say the least, but it was the warm response we got from the villagers that was the surprise. They not only were extremely supportive of the crew, but also helped us with the set construction too. The support we got there was overwhelming and incomparable.”

Suman Ghosh, whose next is on the first Aadhaar card recipient and stars Vineet Kumar Singh in the lead, said his producer, who is from Deoghar, offered to show him around when he first bounced off the story with him. “We finally settled for two locations — Jamua in Deoghar and the capital Ranchi. Jharkhand government and authorities have been very supportive,” he had told us. For many filmmakers, the backdrop is as big an incentive as the money. “Jharkhand has a rough but scenic landscape, which fitted the bill. My film is about a revolutionary and the town, where the story is set, is a character in itself. But, of course, the subsidy is a huge help for indie filmmakers,” said Rajaditya, who is currently shooting Shivaratri in Jharkhand.

Satarupa Sanyal, creative producer of Hari Viswanath’s Hindi film, Bansuri, said the unit of the film that has Rituparna and Anurag in the lead, will head to Jharkhand end-April. “The Jharkhand government has come forward to help a film in all its stages — shooting, post-production and promotion. Also, they steer clear of interfering in creative decisions. Any filmmaker, who shot in the state, received the subsidy ahead of the release. Since Bengali is one of the spoken languages in Jharkhand, this has come as a boon for filmmakers,” she said.

The film policy has also clearly benefited the state, which has become a hotspot for film production. Line producer Raju Mitra from Jharkhand, who made a film in Rarh Bangla — Bhalobashai Alor Asha — before the introduction of the film policy in 2015, said he has seen a sea change. “There would be shoots before the film policy, but it was never in bulk. Now Jharkhand features on every filmmaker’s wish list. Hindi films like Begum Jaan, MS Dhoni: The Untold Story, Ajab Singh Ki Gajab Kahani, Death in the Gunj were shot here, apart from Bengali films like Oskar, Khunje Berai Tare and Bhojpuri film, Gangster Dulhaniya. There are many more in the offing,” he said.

Can Bengal toe the same line and come with its own film policy? Srijit explained, “Jharkhand has many virgin locations that are not explored well on the big screen. But Bengal, on the other hand, has a developed film industry and set locations. Everyone coming to Bengal knows what they are signing up for. I think film policies work best for regions that have room for development.”