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* Manjhi the Mountain Man *

File:Manjhi poster.jpg

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• DIRECTOR  : SANAL BABU

• PRODUCERS : Deepa Sahi & Neena Lath Gupta

• SCREENPLAY WRITERS : Mahendar Jakhar & Ketan Mehta

• STARRING : Nawazuddin Siddiqui , Radhika Apte , Radhika Apte , Tigmanshu Dhulia , Prashant Narayan

• MUSIC : Sandesh Shandilya

• PRODUCTION DESIGN: Nitin Desai

• CINEMATOGRAPHY : Rajeev Jain

• EDITING : Pratik Chitalia

• AUDIOGRAPHY : Shahaab Ahmed

• PRODUCED BY : Maya Movies Pvt.Ltd & National Film Development Corporation (India)

• RUNNING TIME : 120 minutes

• COUNTRY : India

• LANGUAGE : Hindi

• BUDGET : 8 crore (US$1.3 million)

Manjhi - the Mountain Man’ is a 2013 Indian film co-written and directed by Ketan Mehta and produced by Deepa Sahi & Nina Lath Gupta.
It stars Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Radhika Apte in lead roles. 
         

Contents	Description
1 Plot Synopsis	‘Manjhi - The Mountain Man’ is based on a true life story of the man who broke a Mountain ... for Love. Dashrath Manjhi was a poorest of the poor man from the lowest of the low castes, living in a remote village cut off from the world by a rocky mountain range. Life for him was a daily struggle for survival. He loved his wife, Phaguniya, beyond belief. One day while climbing the mountain to bring him food, his wife slipped, fell and died. Overwhelmed by grief, Dashrath decided to carve out a path through the mountain, so that no one else would suffer his fate. For 22 years, all by himself, with just a hammer and a chisel, he hammered away at the rocks, till the path was carved out from the mountain. It is a unique monument to love ... An inspiring story of the triumph of the human will ... and a passionate love story of the wretched of the earth.
2 Cast	Nawazuddin Siddiqui as Dashrath Manjhi Radhika Apte as Dashrath Manjhi’s wife, Phaguniya Tigmanshu Dhulia as the landlord Pankaj Tripathi as Ruab, the landlord’s son Gaurav Dwivedi as Alok Jha, a journalist Ashraful Haq as Magru- Dashrath's father Prashant Narayan as a Jhumru, a rebel
3.2 Writing	3.2 Writing
3.3 Casting	Right casting was crucial for this film, as it was an extremely challenging role spanning over forty years. Nawazuddin Siddiqui who plays the role of Dashrath Manjhi was an instant choice for Ketan the moment he saw him in the film Kahani. He realised that here was an amazingly gifted actor, who was skilful, versatile and deeply rooted. Physically too he was perfect for the role- frail with scorching intensity in his eyes and total commitment to his craft. For Phaguniya many girls were auditioned and Radhika Apte was selected for her sheer spontaneity. Radhika had previously acted in a few films receiving acclaim for her performances and was also a great dancer. Some of the local people Ketan met in Bihar have also have been cast in the film.
3.4 Filming	The film was shot on the actual locations at Gehlore village in Gaya district, in the state of Bihar. Deepa Sahi, the producer says, it was the most difficult shoot she has ever done. The crew had to wake up every day at 3:30 in the morning, travel an hour and a half in the dark to the location and then climb the rocky mountain with their cameras and all the filming equipment. There was no electricity or even basic amenities and facilities available anywhere close and the entire unit had to rough it out for the entire duration of filming. Apart from that it was also a Naxal (extreme left wing militias) infested area and the filming had to be done under police protection with the threat of violence looming on a daily basis. The entire village participated in the filming as junior artists and providing logistical support to the film unit. MULTIPLE PEOPLE WANTING TO MAKE THE FILM The moment the film was announced at least 4 other people claimed that they too wanted to make the film on Dashrath Manjhi’s life and had the exclusive rights to do it. But since all the material on Dashrath Manjhi was in public domain, Ketan felt that no one could claim exclusive rights and went ahead and shot the film. However as soon as Ketan completed the shooting for the film someone in Bihar filed a court case against Ketan Mehta and brought a stay order on the release of the film on the ground that, Dashrath Manjhi while on his death bed, in ICU, had put his thumb impression on an agreement, giving away “exclusive rights” to make a film on his life. The court case dragged on for over six months. It was yet another trial by fire. Finally the judgement came in Ketan’s favour with the court accepting the fact that Dashrath Manjhi was indeed a public figure and that no one could claim exclusive rights on his life. So the stay on the release of the film was lifted, clearing the way for the film’s completion and release. NAWAZUDDIN ON THE FILM Nawaz stated that after the release of the film Gangs , he was shocked that he was offered more than 150 scripts to choose from! But when he read Ketan’s Manjhi script, he knew this was the one. Besides “Ketan is my favourite director, not just mine he is the favourite of 1000s’ of directors and it was my dream to work with him and I thank god that my dream is fulfilled. Also to be offered a role like Manjhi was unbelievable
6 References	1. Ketan Mehta: Manjhi - The Mountain Man, a ray of hope in cynical times- http://movies.ndtv.com/bollywood/ketan-mehta-manjhi-the-mountain-man-a-ray-of-hope-in-cynical-times-408069 2. Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Ketan Mehta team up for a biopic on the life of Dashrath Manjhi http://ibnlive.in.com/shows/E-lounge/416086.html?utm_source=ref_article http://ibnlive.in.com/shows/E-Lounge/416086.html 3. 'Manjhi-Mountain Man' role toughest: Nawazuddin-September 12, 2013 | IANS http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-09-12/news-interviews/42007817_1_dashrath-manjhi-nawazuddin-siddiqui-mountain-man 4. Dashrath Manjhi portrayed as poor man’s Shah Jahan in Ketan Mehta's film-November 9, 2012 | Abdul Qadir , TNN http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-11-09/patna/35016139_1_gehlor-dashrath-manjhi-hillock
7 External links	7 External links