Nagpur: As the buzz spread about a film being made on the life of Nagpur’s personality Vijay Barse who has been promoting slum soccer through his endeavours, the latest development is that ‘Sairat’ director Nagraj Manjule who is making his Hindi direction debut with this film with none other than Amitabh Bachchan, has already planned for the shooting of this movie in Pune.
Sources informed that a set for the film is currently being set up in the Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) campus and as soon as the set is ready, Manjule will start shooting with Bachchan there.
The film’s team, after obtaining necessary permissions from the university, has dug up a portion of the playground in the campus for erecting the set. However, Manjule has refuted reports that students are not being allowed to play on the ground.
“The film revolves around sports and we have handled the subject in a sensitive way. As for the university students, they are free to play on the ground. We haven’t stopped them from using it. We only have security around the set because there is costly equipment around and we don’t want it to get damaged. I am a student of the university and have no intention of damaging the property or interfering in the day-to-day lives of students. We expect cooperation from everyone involved,” says Manjule. His statement is backed by Arvind Shaligram, Registrar, SPPU, who says, “The team has obtained permission to shoot for 45 days from us. The set is being set up on one part of the playground and doesn’t occupy the complete space. Also, students are allowed to use the ground for playing. However, due to security reasons, the entry to the area where the set property is kept is restricted.”
According to sources, the university ground doubles up as a playground for people from neighbouring areas, who don’t have any association with the university per se. A source informs, “Random people keep crowding the area.
They are not students of the university but people residing in nearby areas. Since the set is still being built and there is costly equipment and valuables lying around, certain security measures have been taken.”
Since the film is about a sport, the playground plays an important role in it. “The ground has been dug up in a few places as per the set’s requirement but at the end of the schedule, the team is going to refurbish it and get it back to the way it was before,” adds the source.
