They are known better for their political acts. But Samajwadi Party leaders Amar Singh and Jaya Prada will now be showcasing their dramatic talents on the big screen — fighting the cause of oppressed forest tribals in their screen avatars.
The film, Sesh Sanghat (Last Conflict), by national award-winning Bengali director Ashoke Viswanathan, has uncanny aevents in the current Maoist-government face off.
It has Jaya Prada, also the film’s producer, playing Raji, a much-abused tribal woman who takes refuge with an insurgent group. “This is a burning issue,” said the actress-turned-MP. “Poor people, especially women, are suppressed everywhere; they get no justice. I’ve seen this from my experience in Rampur (her constituency), and I represent them all.”
Singh plays a politician whose sympathies are with the oppressed.
“It’s a topical film, reflecting the battle today between the haves and havenots, between landgrabbers and landless tribals,” he said.
The film also features Jackie Shroff as a police officer who is sent to the Bengal-Jharkhand border, where the film is set. The music is by Bappi Lahiri.
“The film was written long before in 2007,” says Viswa-nathan, denying he made the film to capture recent events. “But yes, the script definitely proved to be prescient.”
{{/usCountry}}“The film was written long before in 2007,” says Viswa-nathan, denying he made the film to capture recent events. “But yes, the script definitely proved to be prescient.”
{{/usCountry}}Sesh Sanghat, made on a budget of Rs 2.5 crore, releases on October 30 in around 50 theatres in West Bengal. “We will also subtitle it in Hindi and release it in metro cities in December,” Jaya Prada said.