Life of Lal Bahadur Shastri to be captured on celluloid

A new film titled "Jai Jawaan Jai Kisaan", will capture the life and time of India's second Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri.

"I appreciate that they are making a film on my father and the slogan he gave. I encouraged them because today the country needs a leader like Lal Bahadur Shastri," said Sunil Shastri, son of the leader.

He has pledged his full support to the makers of the film and is proud that a young team is making the film.

Shastri took over the office of Prime Minister after Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's death in 1964. He gave the slogan to encourage the farmers for a better yield to reduce country's dependence on imported food grains while also to infuse renewed enthusiasm in soldiers fighting the Indo-Pak war of 1965.

Veteran actor Prem Chopra, who would be playing the role of Gobind Ballabh Pant in the film said, "There was a film made 'Shaheed'. We invited Shastri ji for it. He said I will come for half an hour. In the film Manoj Kumar played the role of 'Bhagat Singh' and I played the role of 'Sukhdev'. When he saw the film he became very emotional."

Om Puri will play the role of first President Dr Rajendra Prasad while Rati Agnihotri will be playing Nehru's sister Vijaylakshmi Pandit. Jatin Khurana will be playing the role of Chandrashekhar Azad.

A 49-year-old theatre actor Akhilesh Jain from Bhopal has been cast to play Shashtri. He was able to grab the role after the director spotted him playing same role in a documentary.

"Shashtriji's life would always be a message for politicians. I am not giving much attention to his physical appearance or the way he walked but I am studying him. I am focussing on his behaviour and personality.

"Even If I can grasp 10 per cent of his personality it would be beneficial for me as a person as well as the character," Jain, who works for the railways, said.

The film is directed by Milan Ajmera and written by Dheeraj Mishra. It will be shot in real locations of Allahabad, Mumbai and Delhi.

The makers said that they are planning to release the film on October 2, which happens to be Shashtri's birthday.