The life story of Ranu Mandal is worthy of the movie. Ranu, who lived on the footpath in Ranaghat, West Bengal, used to sing songs whereas sitting on the footpath at Ranaghat station. While, some would cease and hear, others would simply go by. However, his life modified when a video of him singing went viral on social media, the place he was additionally in comparison with Lata Mangeshkar.
Ranu is again at Ranaghat after her brief stint in Mumbai, after assembly Himesh Reshammiya and giving her an opportunity to play playback. Now a movie is being made on him in Hindi.
Helmed by director Hrishikesh Mandal, the movie was initially deliberate to be shot in Bengali. “I had Sudipta Chakraborty (a National Award winning actor) on my mind. Then we decided to shoot the film in Hindi. Sudipta was curious but due to some problem with the dates, she withdrew from the project. We had many actors in mind. However, some people considered playing Ranu Mandal’s character insulting. In the end, Ishika Dey agreed to play the role,” says Rishikesh.
It was the movie’s screenwriter, Soumen Ghosh, who contacted Ishika by way of Facebook in late July. Ishika was recovering from a surgical procedure on the Cooper Hospital in Mumbai. She barely completed studying the 138-page script earlier than agreeing to the play and signed the movie on August 3. It’s like life. We aren’t utterly good or utterly unhealthy. We are all good or unhealthy relying on our circumstances. We all have our ups and downs. Such is the character of Ranu. She has challenged me to carry out,” says Ashika.
Currently, Ishika, who has starred in Sacred Games and Laal Kaptaan, is present process psychological counseling for the character beneath the tutelage of her greatest good friend Kamalika Bhattacharya, who’s a psychologist. She will play two roles – Ranu as a younger man, in addition to in her outdated age. “But the most challenging part for me right now is to lose 10 kgs. I am healthy and fond of whole food. Whenever my mind is sad, I fulfill myself by eating good food. I have no maid; I myself cook and cook well. The pressure of lockdown has hit everyone and I am no exception. I try to make up for the situation by eating good food,” says Ashika.
But has he contacted Ranu? While director Hrishikesh says that he was in contact with Ranu a 12 months and a half in the past, Ehika is but to talk to him. Ishika says, “We plan to talk to him on a Zoom call.”
Hrishikesh says he has additionally approached Himesh Reshammiya for a visitor look within the movie, although the latter is but to substantiate his presence. Filming will start in November in Kolkata, Ranaghat and Mumbai.
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With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
