Vidya Balan’s Begum Jaan Goes Tax Free In Jharkhand Before Its Release

Begum Jaan is the first big Hindi feature film to have been shot primarily in Jharkhand. The Government of Jharkand has awarded a subsidy of Rs. 2 crores toward the cost of production of the film.

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Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das has handed over a cheque of Rs 50 lakh to the team of “Begum Jaan”, backed by Bollywood filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt.

“Mahesh Bhatt met Chief Minister Raghubar along with Vidya Balan. Chief Minister has directed officials to make the movie tax free in the state,” an official told IANS.

The official said that the Chief Minister offered Vidya to become brand ambassador of Jharkhand, and Vidya accepted the offer.

A large part of the film’s shooting took place in Jharkhand. As per the state’s film policy, the Chief Minister handed over a cheque of Rs 50 lakh to the team.

Bhatt, Vidya and other team members were here to promote the movie.

Srijit Mukherjee’s directorial is a Hindi adaptation of Bengali film Rajkahini, which saw Rituparna Sengupta in the lead role.

Apart from Vidya Balan, Begum Jaan has one of the biggest and most powerful ensemble cast, with Ila Arun, Gauahar Khan, Pallavi Sharda, Rajit Kapoor, Ashish Vidyarthi, Chunky Pandey, Pitobash, Poonam Rajput, Ridheema Tiwari, Flora Saini, Priyanka Setia, Mishti Chakraborty, Sumit Nijhawan, Rajesh Sharma, Vivek Mushran in pivotal roles and Naseeruddin Shah making a guest appearance.

Post the release of Begum Jaan, Vidya Balan will start the shooting of Tumhari Sulu.

Tumhari Sulu revolves around the character of Sulu (Sulochana), a simple, happy-go-lucky housewife who stumbles upon a job of a night RJ (radio jockey). The music will play a crucial element in the film.

Interestingly, Vidya has previously portrayed the character of an RJ in Lage Raho Munnabhai. Tumhari Sulu will be directed by a noted ad-man Suresh Triveni.