Kaala and Kabali director Pa Ranjith is all set to make his Bollywood debut, which will be a biopic. It is going to be a period film based on Birsa Munda a tribal freedom fighter and religious leader. Pa Ranjith’s debut in the Hindi Film Industry has been a talk of the town since a very long time. According to media reports, the biopic will be bankrolled by Namah Pictures which produced Majid Majidi’s Beyond the Clouds. The film is currently in pre-production stage and the makers are currently busy locking the cast for the film.
Birsa Munda is a folk hero who belonged to the Munda tribe. He spearheaded an Indian tribal religious Millenarian movement that arose in the tribal belt of modern-day Bihar and Jharkhand in the late 19th century, during the British Raj. Director Pa Ranjith’s says, “When I first read about Birsa seven years back, in Mahaswetha Devi’s Aaranyer Adhikar (Jangal Ke Davedar in Hindi), I knew that one day I will narrate this story.”
Here’s the tweet by PRO Kumaresan that confirms the news of Pa Ranjith’s Bollywood entry:
சாதிகளை துறந்து…. சித்தாந்தங்களை சுமந்து..!! நமது உரிமைகளுக்கான அம்புகளை எய்துவோம்.சகோதரரின் அடுத்த நகர்வு பழங்குடி புரட்சியாளன் #பிர்சாமுண்டாவின் வாழ்க்கை பதிவு! @beemji pic.twitter.com/3uGTdrwIEG
— PRO Kumaresan (@urkumaresanpro) November 14, 2018
Shareen Mantri Kedia also shares, “The life and times of Birsa Munda are an inspiration and it’s a remarkable story that needs to be told. There are very few parallels in history of so much being achieved at such a young age. We at Namah Pictures feel privileged to bring this story to screen and are excited to collaborate with Pa Ranjith to direct the film.”
In 2008, there was already a film based on the life of Birsa and was titled Gandhi Se Pehle Gandhi. One more film title Ulgulan – Ek Kranti was made in 2004 in which 500 Birsaits had acted. Now, Tamil director Pa. Ranjith will be making a film on the same subject. It remains to see what the director has in the store for the audience considering he is a huge politics follower. More information on the biopic is awaited.