Marathi film inspired by famed public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam awaits release

A film on one of the most famous public prosecutors Ujjwal Nikam has hit the smooth after numerous roadblocks by the censors. Pune-based director Suvahhdan Angre (37) who is also the co-producer of the film is elated that the film has rolled past the Censor Board row and is looking at an October 6 release.

Suvahhdan Angre (r) during the making of the movie

Angre says, "Mumbai is the living beating heart of my film, Aadesh - The Power of Law' which is an intense, Marathi court room drama." The protagonist of the 135-minute film, ready for a pan-Maharashtra release early next month, is based on Nikam, though Angre says, "it is not solely about Nikam. The film is about public prosecutors in general."

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A still from the film

Just like him!
One cannot though help seeing the resemblance, physically between Angre and Nikam. He had said that he made a conscious effort to look like Nikam. Angre had also studied Nikam's gait through footage on the Internet and the way he talked.

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Says Angre, "I started making this movie in 2013. It was completed in 2014. It ran into trouble with the Censors, I had to re-shoot scenes. One in particular was about the Kherlanji massacre." This massacre refers to the 2006 murders of Dalits by members of the politically dominant Kunbi caste; there was sexual assault and murder, with the killings taking place in a village in Maharashtra. Angre says the "censor board felt certain scenes would lead to riots. I have tried to be as close to reality as possible."

Look at law
Angre says that, "Some of us from the film unit had met Nikam at a social function where he seemed apprehensive about a film on him. We broadened the ambit. This film is about public prosecutors. It is about law, I hope Ministers Subramaniam Swamy, Arun Jaitley, in fact legal eagles see this and support it."

Also read: Seeking proof of surgical strikes illegal, unjustified: Ujjwal Nikam

The movie has Mumbai as its living heart, "the High Court in Mumbai, and the police headquarters in this city," form the epicenter of the film," says Angre adding that, "we have about 10 multiplexes in the city going to show the movie and a couple of single screens too." The filmmaker who is an avid runner and follows a morning fitness routine incidentally, like Nikam does, says "my film also has cases about the bogey of the fraud Babas. We have touched upon a case where a boy is murdered because of blind faith. It makes a strong case for rationalism and a scientific temper."

Waiting for you
In the end, the filmmakers say that the film's message in Marathi is 'joh kaaydat, toh faaydat' which means those who obey the law will win, and hope, "public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam too finds the time to see the movie. I will welcome his feedback, good or bad," laughs Angre as he says that, "as the release date comes closer, I am filled with relief. I have been carrying this baby for so long. This feels like giving birth, only because of the rocky road this is not a natural birth, it is a Caesarean."

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