Anna Hazare biopic releasing on Oct 14

The much-anticipated biopic on veteran Gandhian and social crusader Kisan Baburao Hazare, alias Anna Hazare, is ready and slated for an all-India release on October 14, the film's producers said on Tuesday.

"Anna: Kisan Baburao Hazare" is a 130 minute long Hindi feature film and has been shot for over a year at locales in his native village Ralegan-Siddhi in Ahmednagar (Maharashtra), Mumbai, New Delhi, Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh and Rajasthan, said producer Manindra Jain.

The film's teaser shall be released on September 15, followed by extensive promos in the media, including special appearances on television for "The Kapil Sharma Show", "Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah" and many more with Hazare's presence, Jain said.

"The film dwells on the life of 79-year-old Hazare, who is a revered social figure. The story starts right from his childhood days, his stint with Indian Army, his attempt to commit suicide once, his post-Army struggles within and outside, his rural transformation experiences starting with Ralegan-Siddhi, his nationalistic 'India Against Corruption' movement culminating in several laws like RTI and Lokpal legislations," Jain told IANS.

The film is produced by Rise Pictures Private Limited and directed by Shashank Udapurkar, the maiden directorial venture of well-known Marathi actor who also plays the lead role of Anna Hazare, and has penned the dialogues and screenplay.

Actress Tanisha Mukherjee will essay the role of a young journalist who records Hazare's social-political travails in the biopic injected with three Hindi songs.

Produced by Manindra Jain and his son Udit, the story will take the viewers on the young kisan's transformation to a nationally revered figure Anna, his ideas, psyche, leading what he called the "Second Struggle for Independence", said Udit Jain.

"This tale of his struggles, battles, truth, treachery inspired us to create more such Annas in modern times. It is our honest attempt to create inspiration through the film," the Jains said.

Starting with Hindi, it will be later dubbed in English for the global audiences and in other regional Indian languages to take his message to all corners of the country.

Besides the promos, the film-makers plan to have a special campaign in Gujarat on October 2, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, in Gandhinagar, Gujarat where Hazare will remain present.

(Source: IANS)