Gurugram: Four films — ‘Dada Lakhmi’, ‘1600 Meter’, ‘Chhalaang’, and ‘Tera Kya Hoga Lovely’ — have been selected for ‘subsidy’ under the Haryana Film and Entertainment Policy-2022 that looks to promote and preserve the folk culture of Haryana.
While ‘Dada Lakhmi’ is a biographical film based on the musical journey of Haryanvi folk singer Lakhmi Chand, ‘1600 Meter’ focusses on a Haryanvi youth’s story of joining the army.
‘Chhalaang’ is a comedy having popular actor Rajkummar Rao as a physical training instructor in a government school with settings in Haryana. ‘Tera Kya Hoga Lovely’ features actors Randeep Hooda and Ileana D’Cruz with a storyline on the fair skin obsession of Indians.
The first two movies will get incentives of Rs 1 crore each, while the other two get Rs 2 crore each.
“It’s the first time that any government has implemented a film policy to promote the state in films. The objective is to promote and preserve the folk culture of Haryana which is otherwise becoming extinct, and also to provide entertainment to people. The other aim of this policy is to generate employment opportunities for Haryanvi youths in the film industry,” Mandip Singh Brar, Director General of Information, Public Relations, said.
“Ever since Haryana launched this policy, the state has been able to attract producers who have been using Haryana as a locale and promoting the Haryanvi language in their films.”
The selection was made on Wednesday at a meeting of the Governing Council, convened under the Haryana Film Promotion Board, chaired by its chairperson Mita Vashisht.
Who was Dada Lakmi Chand?
Pandit Lakhmi Chand is given the sobriquets of ‘Shakespeare of Haryana’ and ‘Kalidas of Haryana’ because of the popularity he enjoys in the Haryanvi music genre of Saang and Raagni.
Born to a Gaur Brahmin couple at Sonipat’s Jaati Kalan village in 1903, Chand had initial training from Pandit Deep Chand Bahman from Khanda village. Considered one of the greatest poets of the Haryanvi language, Chand’s writings have a noticeable impact on contemporary culture and the society of Haryana.
His songs were laced with moral messages for which he would often use the dance drama form of ‘Saang’. ‘Lakhmichand Ka Brahmgyaan’, his celebrated work comprising his songs, has been performed by many Haryanvi artists since his death.
Some of his other prominent works include Raja Harishchander, Shahi Lakadhara, Jyani Chor, Seth Tarachand, Satyewan Savitri, Heer Ranjha, Chap Singh Somvati, Raja Gopichand, Bhup Puranjan, Meera Bai, Bhagat Puranmal, Hiramal Jamal, Raghubir Dharamkaur and Chanderkiran.
Author and former IPS officer Rajbir Deswal said that Lakhmi Chand has a unique distinction of having a poetic style nonpareil in folklore and oral literature of Haryana.
“He had an uncanny ability to decipher and explain the finer nuances of music . He was criticised for his inclination to the sensuous expressions initially but his dealing with the historical and mythological themes gradually redeemed him of the insinuation. He is rightly described as Shakespeare of Haryana,” Deswal told The Print Thursday.
Shamim Sharma, another author from Haryana said that Pandit Lakhmi Chand’s poetry was very entertaining and meaningful. She said there was no parallel to him in the genre of ‘Saang’.
Actor Yashpal Sharma, who produced the biopic on the folk singer, told ThePrint that though he was settled in Bollywood, he always thought he should make a film on his home state Haryana where he was born and brought up in a middle-class family in Hisar town.
“When I discussed with my friends that I don’t want to make a romantic or a comedy movie, but a movie that could be remembered for generations, Raju Mann, the writer of Dada Lakhmi, told me that there could not be a better topic than Pandit Lakhmi Chand,” the actor said.
He said that though the 2022 film didn’t do much better commercially, it bagged the National Award in September that year and 71 awards at the international level.
Sharma said he read 17 books and some PhD thesis written on Chand to prepare himself for the film both as lead actor and producer.
He said that the film was entirely shot in Haryana with a few scenes in Chand’s Jaati Kalan village in Sonipat and largely in Jamaal, Bakrianwali, and Nathusari Chopta villages of Sirsa on the Rajasthan border where people still have mud houses. Some other scenes have been shot in Karak Kalan village between Rohtak and Bhiwani.
Sharma said that Rs 3 crore was spent on the making of the film which he won’t be able to recover even after the subsidy amount is given by the Haryana government.
“The film worked well for three weeks after its release on 8 November, 2022. However, it was screened in Haryana only and its total collections were Rs. 86 lakh. Half the amount goes to cinema halls and five percent to distributors. When I make Part 2 of this film, I will ensure I don’t spend more than Rs 1 crore on the film.”.
Part 1 showed Dada Lakhmi till he formed his own ‘beda’ (group) of Saang and Raagnis and the best part of his life is still to be filmed, he added.
Produced by Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) advisor Hariom Kaushik, the yet-to-be-released movie ‘1600 Meter’ is based on the story of a youth, and his struggle to get into the armed forces.
“As a child growing up in Pali village of Mahendragarh, I also wanted to join the army but eventually landed in the film industry. After working in the industry for a few years, I thought of producing my film and this topic instantly struck me. ‘1600 meter’ is a topic every youth in our area can relate to. This is the length an army aspirant has to run in a stipulated time to get into the army,” Kaushik told ThePrint.
The film has Akarshan Sharma from Sirsa and Neeva Malik from Hisar in the lead roles while Jogi Malang, an established actor in Bollywood, too, has a part.
He said that the film would be soon released on OTT platform as he was in touch with some channels.
Haryana’s Film Policy
The Manohar Lal Khattar government launched the ‘Haryana Film Policy’ in 2018 to promote Haryanvi films, artists and cinema. In September 2022, it came up with an amended policy and announced that a subsidy up to Rs 2 crore would be given to the filmmakers to promote Haryanvi films. The policy provides for the constitution of a Haryana Film Promotion Board.
The government initially appointed Bollywood director Satish Kaushik, a native of Mahendragarh district, as the chairman of the board. After his death in March last year, actor Mita Vashishtha took over the role in September.
“Under the policy, we have allocated credit points for the culture test of the films. The parameters on which credit points are counted are culture content related to Haryana, film set in Haryana, lead character from Haryana, Haryanvi characters in the story, films based on Haryanvi story, and films demonstrating Haryanvi cultural, historical, architectural heritage and diversity,” said an official in the Haryana Information and Public Relations Department.
“The Haryanvi films with a CPS (credit point score) range of 56 to 84 can get 50 percent of the production cost, or Rs 1 crore whichever is lower. The films with CPS of 85 to 112 can get 50 percent of their production cost, or Rs 2 crore, whichever is lower. For the non-Haryanvi films, the CPS score for the incentives of Rs 1 crore and Rs 2 crore is 37 to 75 and 76 to 112, respectively.”
While Haryanvi and non-Haryanvi films are required to get a minimum of 30 CPS for shooting in Haryana, the Haryanvi films must also score a minimum prescribed score for having a male and lead female actor from the state. A non-Haryanvi film can qualify for the incentive by having a supporting actor male or female from the state.
Similarly, a Haryanvi film must have a crew, director, writer, director of photography, sound engineer, editor and music director from Haryana, while a non-Haryanvi film can qualify for the subsidy even without these provided the film scores the required CPS from other parameters.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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