
Cine bigs dig into Bhojpuri pockets?
WHEN LUCKNOW girl Madhurima Tiwari declared her intentions to turn producer and churn out Bhojpuri films, the obvious question was “why Bhojpuri?”
She replied, “Because it’s the boom time for Bhojpuri films.” Madhurima apparently had done proper homework.
For, Bollywood too is learning to speak Bhojpuri these days. Big stars, like Amitabh Bachchan, his son Abhishek, Ajay Devgan, Suman Rangnathan and famed producer-directors like Subhash Ghai all are turning to Bhojpuri films.
Asha Bhonsle too broke her silence after 20 years in Bhojpuri when she agreed to sing for Nehiya Sanehiya after being persuaded by city based music director, Kewal Kumar.
The turnaround, came after the phenomenal success of two Bhojpuri films, Daroga Babu I Love You and Sasura Bada Paisewala which did better business in Bhojpuri speaking regions of UP and Bihar overtaking the Amitabh Bachchan starrer Bunty aur Babli.
The success of these films didn’t go unnoticed in the valley of dream merchants where the first Bhojpuri film Awards were held recently with some of the prominent names like Dilip Kumar, Saira Banu, Govinda etc taking part in it.
“When the shooting of Nehiya Sanehiya started in Shivgarh Estates, near Bachrawan, recently, a large crowd turned up to watch the shooting of the films. You had to see the enthusiasm of the people to believe how popular Bhojpuri films are becoming now,” said Kewal Kumar, movie’s music director while talking to HT Live.
Due to the extensive migration of people from those regions of Bihar and UP where Bhojpuri is spoken to other states of the country as well as in countries like Guyana, Surinam, Fiji, Trinidad & Tobago and Mauritius, the market for Bhojpuri films is now suddenly looking rosy.
According to an estimate India has 25 million people speaking the language, with neighbouring Nepal and Mauritius alone having approximately 3,00,000 speakers of the language.
The saga of Bhojpuri films in the tinsel world covers four decades of creativity, essentially focusing villages and the traditional aspects of the society being made for niche target audience. Says Kumar, “The first Bhojpuri movie was Ganga Maiyya Tohe Piyari Charaihbo released in 1961 by Vishwanath Shahabadi. Since, the journey has been quite fulfilling, with better and innovative story ideas.”
Says Tahir, a Mumbai based producer who is making a Bhojpuri film, “With most of the Bollywood films revolving around the urban and upper middle class, the rural backdrop of Bhojpuri movies is what many are finding different and refreshing.”
Also, “the rural charm and traditional values portrayed in most Bhojpuri movies is a hit with migrants who find these movies nostalgic.”
And most importantly as Madhurima says, “Now, talented people from UP and Bihar who otherwise had to struggle to make their presence felt in Bollywood are fast discovering that Bhojpuri films have provided them with a better alternative.”

High maximum temperatures to persist for another 4-5 days: IMD

Covid-19 LIVE: Tokyo to seek an extension of emergency, says report

Emergency was a mistake, says Rahul Gandhi; talks about father, Prabhakaran

India-US ties greatest testament to Gandhi-King legacy, says Indian diplomat

Climate crisis to cost $100 billion to Indian firms in next 5 years: Report

Delhi Assembly session next week: Govt may table state budget on March 9
- For 2020-21, Delhi had pegged budgeted revenue receipts (excluding borrowings) at ₹55,309 crore. Revised estimates for the year will be mentioned in the upcoming budget (2021-22) and actual revenue receipts for the year will reflect in the budget after that.

Long wait times, glitches in Co-WIN slow vaccine drive

Wife not husband’s chattel, can't be forced to live with him, says Supreme Court

SC tells states to install CCTVs in police stations, probe agencies in 5 months
- Court-appointed amicus curiae senior advocate Siddhartha Dave prepared a chart indicating unsatisfactory response from states as well with some proposing to achieve compliance of Court’s December 2, 2020 order by end of 2023.

SC backs taxpayers in software royalty case
- The judgment, which involved approximately ₹500 crore in tax revenue, will impact companies such as IBM India Ltd, Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, Hewlett Packard India, Mphasis Ltd, Sonata Software Ltd, and GE India, among others.

5 days after 12-year-old girl disappeared in UP’s Bulandshahr, body found in pit
- The girl's family lodged a complaint three day after she went missing.

Barely 22 days after taking first jab of vaccine, medico dies of Covid-19
- Shubhendu Shubham, 23, a 2016-batch student of Patna’s Nalanda Medical College Hospital (NMCH), had taken the first shot of Covaxin in the first week of February, but tested positive for the viral infection later last month before he could take the second shot

Srinagar market desolate after death of eatery owner's son in militant attack
- For the past 13 days, the Durga-Nag market at Dalgate in Srinagar has been desolate and locals and traders in grief

PM Modi’s photo on vaccination certificate violates model code, TMC tells ECI
- TMC’s leader in the Rajya Sabha Derek O, Brien asked the Election Commission to stop the Prime Minister "from taking unfair advantages and undue publicity at tax payer’s cost during the conduct of elections".

Ghulam Nabi Azad becomes catalyst in rift in Congress unit in J-K
- Ghulam Nabi Azad detractors and supporters in the Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Committee accused each other of acting at the behest of the BJP.