Chennai: National award-winning filmmaker Janaki Vishwanathan's maiden Hindi movie 'Yeh Hai Bakrapur' which has a goat named Shah Rukh as a protagonist is slated for April 25 release. The official trailer of the film has, however, triggered strong reactions from some fans of the Bollywood superstar on micro-blogging site 'Twitter'.
"We were trending on the date of the official release on March 3 and it was a major hungama on Twitter but honestly the film has nothing to do with Shah Rukh Khan. I was busy with the promos and it was only later I came across the responses," Vishwanathan told PTI.
A fan had posted the message 'shame on you' on her Twitter account and another 'using name ' SRK' for getting publicity for your film!!! shame on you.' "Look the goat is named just Shah Rukh. Somehow the fans have got the impression that the film is to mock SRK, but once they come and see it, I feel they will understand," she said. Vishwanathan said she has great respect for Shah Rukh Khan and what he has achieved and reiterated the film is not an attempt to poke fun at him. Asked if the 47-year-old actor has reacted, she said, "We are trying to get in touch with him. I am confident he will appreciate the subject and extend good wishes for the movie." Vishwanathan said they planned to screen it at 500 theatres nationwide.
The first copy of the movie was ready before the Mumbai film fest in late October last year. She was busy shooting with a promotional song last week. This has also been incorporated, she said. Besides the Mumbai film festival, the film was also screened at the Goteburg Fest in Sweden in January this year. Besides the goat, the 90-minute film, scripted and directed by her, stars Anshuman Jha, Asif Basra, Faiz Khan, Shameen Khan and Suruchi Aulakh.
The film is said to be a social-political satire set against the backdrop of rural India. "It dwells, at the primary level, on the relationship between eight-year-old Zulfi and his pet goat Shah Rukh."
The official trailer has received over a million hits since its launch. "Mind you, it has no superstars," she said. The movie was shot on the Karnataka-Maharashtra border and the goat bought from Bidar. As for 'Shah Rukh', she said it has been donated to the Veterinary University at Madhavaram near Chennai. "He is being looked after by the University and will spend the rest of his days there," Vishwanathan said when asked if it will end up in a slaughter house. "As part of promotional strategy, we have just launched an android mobile game called Kaun Banega PM. There is a live scoreboard on our website and social media properties," she said.
Earlier, they had named the film 'Bakrapur' but when they approached the Producers' Council for registration of the title, it was suggested they add a prefix or suffix to it as somebody else had submitted a project named 'Bakra', she said. The journalist-turned-filmmaker's first film 'Kutty' released in 2001 fetched her two National awards. She did 'Kanavu Mei Pada Vaendum' in 2004 and then 'Om Obama' in 2011. The music of 'Bakrapur' has been composed by 'Agnee', a Mumbai-based rock band.
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