Mahesh Bhatt's Rajkahini remake being shot in Jharkhand

RANCHI: After Gangs of Wasseypur and its mentioning in the latest hit Udta Punjab, Jharkhand is now set to find itself in the map of Bollywood.

Vishesh Films, the noted Bollywood production house co-owned by celebrated filmmaker producer Mahesh Bhatt, is filming its next movie in the rough terrains of the state's Santhal Pargana.

Begum Jaan, the Hindi adaptation of the 2015 Bengali critically acclaimed film RajKahini starring Vidya Balan and Nasruddin Shah, has camped in Dumka district for its month long outdoor shooting schedule.

The first Bollywood movie to be shot here after the state announced its film policy in 2015- Begum Jaan narrates the story of the horrors of partition of 1947 and is set in Punjab. Rajkahini, directed by Srijit Mukherjee, was based on the partition of Bengal. Mukherjee is directing Begum Jaan.

The film, which is scheduled to hit theaters in March next year, is providing an impetus to Jharkhand's film industry after it roped in 350 local artists (from Dumka roughly 122 kilometers from Shantiniketan in West Bengal), the state's film industry fraternity believes.

Bhatt, who was in Ranchi to pay a courtesy visit to chief minister Raghubar Das, said the state government has shown the resolve to create infrastructure and draw more producers to the state for shooting. "Jharkhand was put in wrong light because of the law and order situation. We have been receiving all help from the government," Bhatt said after the meeting.

The producers have kept shooting locations under wraps on request of the director, but sources said the film crew consisting Balan and Shah are camping in Ranishwar block of Dumka from June 18.

The film, which was originally slated to be shot in Maharashtra, will receive a financial subsidy up to 25% of the total production cost as per Jharkhand's 2015 film policy. As per estimates, the subsidy will be anywhere between Rs 5 to Rs 10 crore.

Notably, Jharkhand made it to prominence after Anurag Kashyap's Gangs of Wasseypur series depicting the mafia wars in coal town Dhanbad in 2012. In the latest Udta Punjab, Bhatt's daughter Alia plays a migrated worker from Jharkhand who gets involved in drug cartel in Punjab.

Praising Jharkhand's natural bounty, Bhatt said more and more filmmakers will make a beeline for the state in future if the government maintains its resolve to provide a congenial atmosphere for shooting.