Jackie Shroff shooting for Bengali film on land stir

Kolkata: Bollywood actor Jackie Shroff, who is currently shooting his fourth Bengali film, says he is excited to be part of the movie based on the burning issue of land acquisition.

The 56-year-old actor, who appears as an IPS officer in the film titled `Swabhumi`, said he was aware of the land movement that had rocked Bengal in 2007. "I had heard about the land movement in Singur when it was at its height in 2007," the actor told PTI on location. `Swabhumi`, based on Mahashweta Devi`s novel `Adhoba`, is being directed by Ujjvwal Chatterjee. The actor said that the land stir in Singur had moved him during that time, but refused say more on the issue when asked. "I am not a politician," he said. Shroff, who has also starred in Rituparno Ghosh`s `Antarmahal`, said he agreed to do the film because of the "real life" script that was given to him and that the director had wanted him to do it. Ujjvwal said that the film was a chronicler of that torrid time and which faithfully recorded the events unfolding. He, however, said that it was not a docu-feature because "there is a story running linking the events". "I have purposely sought to make the events look dated. It did not reflect the contemporary times. Rather it reflected the 06-07 period when Bengal was in turmoil," he said. "It was a fictional film where the audience will feel the pulse of the movement and relive through the times," he said. Actress-model Dimpy Mahajan, currently part of the fifth session of celebrity dance show `Nach Baliye with husband Rahul Mahajan, said it was a privilege to be part of a film portraying an important phase in Bengal`s history. `Swabhumi` is being produced by Ashtami Films. "The surrounding incidents got reflected in the script and we attempted to portray the ideology," Sonika Singh Bhati of Ashtami Films, said. PTI