I am controversy’s child: Ketan Mehta

The release of Mehta’s last film “Rang Rasiya”, a biopic on painter Raja Ravi Varma, faced trouble after Varma’s granddaughter filed a case against the director. The movie released after much delay and with a disclaimer.

The “Mirch Masaala” filmmaker conceived the film seven years ago when he came across an article on Manjhi.

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“There was this poor man in Bihar who made something very impossible possible for love. I went to that place and when I saw the mountain I was thrilled to see that someone would have made a road out of it. It was an inspirational story,” he said.

Manjhi, a labourer living in Gehlaur village of Bihar, single-handedly built a road through a hill so that the locals could have faster access to nearby hospital. His wife had died because of lack of timely medical help.

Nawazuddin Siddiqui plays the title role.

“I have been eyeing Nawaz from the last seven, eight years. He stood out even in those movies where he had one or two scenes. I think Nawaz was perfect as Manjhi,” he said.

The film is set to release on August 21.