A true story of grit

Every once in a while, extraordinary stories emerge from ordinary people. Those who brave trying times to carve their own path.

The story of Dashrath Manjhi is no different. The man dug a roadway out of
 a mountain, that separated his village in Bihar, in memory of his wife. Chronicling
his life and time on celluloid is director Ketan Mehta with Manjhi - The Mountain Man.
To bring this unusual love story on screen, Mehta tread many a tough terrain.

“I had come across an article written about Dashrath Manjhi in the media. He was a real-life hero and his was an amazing story of passion and love. A man who worked for 22 years using just a hammer and chisel to carve out a path through a mountain. I thought it was very inspiring,” he says.

“At the time I was doing Rang Rasiya. Once it was over, I started working on Manjhi...,” he says.

Biopics are no strange territory for Mehta. He has ‘Mangal Pandey: The Rising’  in his kitty. But this was something entirely different. A lot of research went into the making of the film.

Mehta says, “This was one of the toughest films to shoot. We shot in Gehlore, in Bihar. Everyday, we used to get up at 3.30 in the morning and travel in the dark for one hour. Nothing has changed there for over 60 years. There is no electricity, only complete darkness everywhere. But the entire village participated in the shooting and it was amazing to be there,” he remembers.

National-award winning Nawazuddin Siddiqui plays the protagonist Manjhi. “Manjhi was a frail, short man and Nawazuddin was the right body type for the role. And I’ve seen his work too, it is brilliant. He was charged about his work and had that kind of dedication,” he says.

Does he have any perceptions about how the audience will take a film such as this? “I think it is a great love story — of the poorest of the poor, of the wretched of the earth. That kind of story has not come out in recent times. I think it will be appreciated not just here but around the world as well. It is about the triumph of human spirit.”

And while he discovers stories from everyday life, he has his own take on the films coming out of Bollywood.

“Indian cinema is much richer than Bollywood films. I have also watched regional films at film festivals and I think these are exciting and growing. Bollywood cinema negates all that,” he avers.

 “Film-makers should go beyond the numbers. There should be a passion to make films,” he adds.

Meanwhile, he is also looking at the future of Indian films in a positive light.

“The audience is changing, they are demanding change. New film-makers are coming in. The working condition is also changing and I am optimistic about the future,” he says.

For the man, who made such classics like Mirch Masala, there is a story in every corner. And clearly, there is no dearth of inspiration. “Film-making is my life.
Inspiration can come from everywhere, from an article, fiction or somebody else. For that, you need to be alive,” he adds.