National Award-winning filmmaker Sudhir Mishra’s upcoming project, with the working title Gandhi and My Mother, has gone on floors. The film’s shoot commenced with an outdoor sequence in Lucknow on Friday. Actor Manoj Bajpayee plays Mahatma Gandhi in the film.
The film also features actors Divya Dutta and Saurabh Shukla.
The Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi(2005) director had earlier told HT City, “My mother (Durga Devendra Nath Mishra) had met Gandhi as a child and we have had long discussions with her about him. Before she passed away (in 2022), I made a promise to her that I will make a film on him. So, I wrote this script that deals with a chapter from the later stage of his life. Anubhav (Sinha, director-producer) has backed me.”
The shooting began at the Narhi locality near Lucknow Zoo, where a sequence featuring the young girl and Bapu’s public movement was picturised. The production design has effectively recreated the 1940s era, with vintage cars, costumes and old sign-boards that lend authenticity to the period setting.
Benaras Mediaworks founder Anubhav Sinha, who is collaborating with Mishra for the second time after Afwaah (2023), shared further details. “Manoj has lost considerable weight for the film and is currently in the ‘Gandhi zone’ on a restricted diet and a particular lifestyle. The film’s shoot will continue till October in Lucknow. All we can share is that it’s about a 21-day chapter from Gandhi’s life. We just have a working title for now and we are working on a new title,” he says.
Earlier, Mishra had elaborated on the film’s unique narrative structure, stating, “It’s a film within a film, a dilemma of an actor and Gandhi of that time and perception today. I started working on the script after she (mother) passed away as per the promise made to her. My mother told me many tales about Gandhi, and she was both fascinated and angry with him, as her father joined him in the independence struggle.”
The 67-year-old filmmaker has shot multiple films in hometown Lucknow including Yeh Woh Manzil To Nahin (1987), Daas Dev (2018) and Afwaah besides his upcoming project tentatively titled Summers of 76 with actors Narendra Panjwani, Rajat Kapoor, Isha Talwar, Anoushka Pant and Saurabh Shukla.
Sinha too has done multiple projects as director in the state capital including Mulk (2018), Article 15 (2019), Thappad (2020) and Bheed (2023). He has also made yet-to-release film Abhi to Party Shuru Hui Hai in the city.