JOIN USLights, camera and action... back in Purnea
Nearly 50 years after Raj Kapoor and Waheeda Rehman visited Purnea in eastern Bihar to shoot for Basu Bhattacharya’s love story “Teesri Kasam”, the town witnessed ‘light, camera, action’ again after five decades.
This time Bhojpuri superstar Ravi Kissen, (who made his Bollywood debut in “Udhaar Ki Zindagi” in 1993, but gained instant fame through Big Boss) was in Purnea with Hazel Crowney, the lead heroine of the movie.
Released in the mid-60s, “Teesri Kasam” was an unadulterated love story based on Phaneshwarnath Renu’s tale ‘Mare Gaye Gulfam’, in which a bullock cart driver falls for a nautch girl. However, Kissen’s flick “Jeena Hai Toh Thok Daal” is a crime-thriller.
“As the name of the movie suggests ‘If you want to live, shoot him’, JHTTD is a hard-hitting drama about the Mumbai underworld and changing Bihar,” Kissen told Deccan Herald, after returning from Purnea. “Hazel falls in love with the lead character who has gone to Mumbai to kill someone,” he added.
The Bhojpuri movie is being directed by Manish Vatsalya, who incidentally hails from
Purnea.
“No film-maker was earlier ready to shoot in Bihar citing poor law and order situation. But things have changed for better over the years. I am thankful to the producer Aparna Hosinge for reposing trust in me and allowing me to shoot here,” said Manish, while profusely thanking the Purnea district administration for extending all possible assistance.
To a query, whether Hazel had any problem speaking Bhojpuri, Kissen said, “She is not new to silver screen. Earlier, she had featured in films like Mera Pehla Pyar Pyar, Na Janne Kyon and U, Me Aur Hum.”
Manish, who is making his directorial debut, hopes the movie will hit the screens in August this year.