A biopic on “mountain man” Dasrath Manjhi, made by veteran film-maker Ketan Mehta, has run into legal trouble as a local court in Patna has restrained the producers from releasing the movie.
The court order came after another film director Dhananjay Kapoor moved the court asking it to stay the release of Mehta’s movie on the grounds that he (Kapoor) held an agreement with the late Dasrath Manjhi to make a biopic on him and had done enormous research on the subject.
Mehta, who shot the movie last year near Gaya in Bihar, has depicted the real life story of septuagenarian Dashrath Manjhi, who moved mountains some two decades back. Barely 5-foot-tall, Manjhi single-handedly carved out a 360-foot long, 25-foot high and 30-foot wide road by cutting a mountain for 22 years (from 1960 to 1982) near Gaya.
Manjhi, however, passed away in August 2007 at AIIMS, New Delhi. Mehta, through his counsel, argued in the court that the movie, though inspired by Manjhi’s life, was purely fictional. The life of Manjhi, the filmmaker contended, was in public domain and, therefore, there was no requirement for any consent from anyone to make a film.
After hearing both sides, the Patna civil court put an interim injunction restraining the producers from releasing the movie till the final hearing of the case. It also observed that, “It was unfortunate that the name of Manjhi, who sacrificed his valuable years of life for noble and pious work and who deserves salutation from the society was being dragged into litigation.”
Mehta’s movie is a tribute to the “mountain man” who for the sake of love for his wife cut a road through mountain.
A chapter on Manjhi’s achievement has been included in Bihar school books.
Mehta is the first acclaimed film-maker to portray Manjhi’s real life story in reel life.
The ace film-maker has roped in Nawazuddin Siddiqui (who shot to fame through “Kahaani”) and Marathi actress Radhika Apte, who featured in National award winning Bengali film “Antaheen” in 2009, for the lead role.
The court has, meanwhile, advised both the parties (Mehta and Kapoor) to explore possibilities of an amicable settlement so that people of India may know the life and achievements of Manjhi.