Bollywood goes rustic

It’s not foreign locations, Bollywood filmmakers are now opting for rustic hinterlands within the country.

It’s not foreign locations, Bollywood filmmakers are now opting for rustic hinterlands within the country.

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Aarakshan
Director: Prakash Jha
Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Saif Ali Khan, Deepika Padukone
Throwing light on the politics of caste-based reservation in India, Jha has taken his film, Aarakshan to the interiors of Bhopal. “Aarakshan is just a way to let out those feelings that the Indian society has been suppressing for years,” says Jha, adding, “We cannot deny the fact that we are a caste-based society. It is this ‘satya’ (truth) of the society that Aarakshan explores.”

Ek Bura Aadmi
Director: Ishraq Shah
Cast: Arunoday Singh
Based on the politics in Uttar Pradesh, the project is currently being shot in a small village in Udaipur and, has actor Arunoday Singh of Yeh Saali Zindagi fame in a new avatar. While the film explores a serious theme, the cast and crew is battling the desert heat during the shoot.

Gangs of Wasseypur
Director: Anurag Kashyap
Cast: Manoj Bajpayee
Shot in Dhanbad and Varanasi, the two part revenge drama explores the coal mafia racket in the hinterland of India. While Manoj Bajpayee takes the lead in a leaner, meaner avatar, the movie will highlight the unexplored side of this most consumed natural resource of the country.

Zilla Ghaziabad
Director: Anand Kumar
Cast: Sanjay Dutt, Vivek Oberoi
Vivek Oberoi does his version of the lawless lout, playing the role of a real-life gangster in the movie. The film will be shot in Meerut, Indore and Ghaziabad. “I’ve decided to make Zilla Ghaziabad completely on location, no sets at all,” says producer Vinod Bachchan.

Kanoon
Director: Rahul Dholakia
Cast: Not yet decided
Inspired by the Nandigram tragedy in West Bengal and with corporate crime as its main theme, this Rahul Dholakia helmed venture will also be shot at real locations. “It is a drama set against an issue similar to Nandigram,” says Dholakia.