Makers plan to start filming Pa Ranjith's Birsa Munda biopic next year

Shareen Mantri Kedia, the producer behind Tamil filmmaker Pa Ranjith's Hindi directorial debut, a biopic on tribal freedom fighter Birsa Munda, on Sunday revealed they are planning to start the shoot of the movie next year.

Ranjith is well known for directing Tamil-language films such as superstar Rajinikanth's "Kaala" and "Kabali", as well as "Madras" and "Attakathi".

Shareen, who is producing the project under her banner Namah Pictures with production partner Kishor Arora, said the team is currently developing the script of the film.

"We are still developing the script. We have been working on it for eight-nine months now. It's a process as there is a lot of research involved. We want to go on floors by next year.

"Pa Ranjith is very collaborative and it has been a great process working with him," the producer told PTI at the NFDC Film Bazaar, on the sidelines of International Film Festival of India (IFFI) here.

Shareen, who also worked with world-renowned Iranian director Majid Majidi on his first India-set movie "Beyond the Clouds", said it is impossible to convince a director to make a film unless they believe in the story.

"It is a story that the directors believe in. They are not doing these films just because they want to make foray into Hindi cinema or have a mass appeal. They do it because they like the subject. It has to be organic and mutual."

She said currently the focus is on the Hindi version of the Birsa Munda biopic, adding they will take a call on releasing the film in other languages once the script is ready.

"We are still discussing if we want to release the film in other languages as well. We will decide on that after we finish the writing and things are in later stages."

No actors are attached with project as of now, she added.

Birsa Munda led a religious movement in the modern-day Bihar and Jharkhand in the late 19th century.

The yet-to-be-titled film was announced last year in November on the occasion of the freedom fighter's 143rd birth anniversary.

The 50th edition of IFFI concludes on November 28.