Actor Govind Namdev has been roped in to play the role of freedom fighter Lokmanya Tilak after veteran actor Om Puri opted out of the project.
5 months back, a movie on Chapekar Brothers was announced & Om Puri was signed to play the role of Balgangadhar Tilak. However, reports suggested that Om Puri has opted out & the director too, has been replaced.
According to Mid-day, the writer of the film said, “We started shooting for the film a few months ago, but our director Milann Ajmera fell sick following which we had to halt the shoot for a few days. Since it was being delayed, we decided to replace him with Devendra Pandey. Later, when everything was going as per plan, we realised that Om Puri had date issues. We tried to sort things out and had a discussion with him, but it didn’t work out. So, we had to sign Govind Namdev in his place.”
A marathi film on Chapekar Brothers, who contributed in the freedom struggle of 1897 is already made 26 years back, but the writer insists that, this film is completely different from the earlier one. To get authentic & true research, the writer met the descendants of Tilak & Chapekar Brothers.
After the research, the writer said, “I have spoken to them and they are aware that I am making a film in Hindi. They were happy that people will get to know about the Chapekars’ unsung story. They gave me many important documents. They even told me about a temple in Kalbadevi which belongs to the Chapekars and that there is a trust in their name which caters to fisherfolk’s kids and florists in Mumbai. Whatever profit my film makes, 50 per cent of it will go to the trust.”
