'Manjhi - The Mountain Man'​ director feels Bollywood needs to experiment

Pic Courtesy: Movie Still

Mumbai: Director Ketan Mehta feels Bollywood should attempt making adventurous films.

"There are all kind of filmmakers and all kind of reasons of a making a film. The Hindi film industry has to be more adventurous and make all kind of films. I start working on a script first and then think who should be cast," Mehta told PTI.

Mehta is looking forward to the release of "Manjhi - The Mountain Man", an upcoming biographical film based on the life of Dashrath Manjhi, widely known as the Mountain Man.

A poor labourer from a village in Bihar, he spent 22 years carving a path through a mountain.

Mehta is happy with the response he is getting for the film, which will hit the screens on August 21.

"The moment the trailer was released it was heartening to see an amazing response. It was surprising to see an overwhelming response from the youth. They identified with the spirit of the man," the filmmaker said.

"The trailer went viral instantly. It is so encouraging. We have been travelling across the country and wherever we have gone the film has struck a positive chord with the audience," he said.

The film is primarily about the struggle of a man and how he emerges victorious in the end. Mehta had to face a lot of challenges while making the movie.

"I feel more than the struggle it is victory... The story of a man against all odds. It is an amazing story. In terms of shooting it was a very difficult film, we shot at actual locations and there were no proper facilities... There were infrastructural problems," he said. 

For shooting the film, the unit had to get up early morning and travel one-and-half hours and then climb mountain everyday.

"This was the toughest shoot of my life. It is such an inspiring story that five others were also interested in making the film on him and everyone claimed they had the rights, so we went through legal cases," Mehta said.

"We won cases in Patna High Court and the film got made and is up for release," he said.

The title role of the film will be played by Nawazuddin Siddiqui. Mehta is all praise for Nawazuddin and considers him a brilliant actor.

"It is a great role and he is completely commissioned to it. He gave his entire being for this role and you can see it on screen. I think it is one of the finest performances on the Indian screen ever," he said.

With Nawazuddin the only known name in the film, the "Mangal Pandey" director hopes audience come to the theatres to watch the movie.

"I hope the audience connect with the love story and his (Nawazuddin) phenomenal work in the film. It is the most inspiring story that I have come across...An ordinary man's extraordinary deed. It is an amazing story of making the impossible, possible," Mehta said.

The film has released online but Mehta is optimistic that the audience would still come to cinema houses and that it will not hamper the business. "I hope the audience is wise enough to see this epic battle between a man and a mountain. How satisfying can it be on your laptop," Mehta said.