Why Santosh Deshpande chose to make Rakkhosh in Nagpur?
We all know by now that Rakkhosh, India’s first POV film – a film where the camera is the hero for the first time in Indian cinema, has been chosen for the Pune International Film Festival (PIFF), the Rajasthan International Film Festival (RIFF) and the Orange City International Film Festival (OCIFF) to be held between January and February.
It will make us more proud to know that this film has some more firsts to its credit; like:
This is the first commercial Hindi film produced by the duo of Sayali and Santosh Deshpande, who belong to Nagpur!
The duo, under their production House named SD Motion Pictures Pvt Ltd had produced two Marathi movies in the past. These were shot on sets and around Mumbai but for their first ambitious venture in Hindi, Santosh took the big step of settling for Nagpur to shoot it.
“We had explored many options like the Thane Mental Hospital but ultimately I decided to shift the action to Nagpur since we also have a renowned Hospital for Mental health and I wanted to highlight other locations around Nagpur. (The film was shot on sets created in some well known schools, cathedral and private bungalows.)
It was a big challenge since we had to shift not just the entire star cast but also technicians like Cameramen, Sound Recording guys, even make up artists from Mumbai! Not to mention the equipment.
“But this move allowed me to cast many Artists from Nagpur as well, who thus got a chance to get an entry into Bollywood. We have 50 actors from Nagpur area among whom Atul Mahale, Shriram Jog and Ganesh Deshmukh ( who later featured in Nagraj’s ‘Naal’ as well) have played significant roles. As have Naseer and Roshan who are from Nagpur as well.” Says Santosh.
Apart from actors, many other people associated with Rakhosh are from Nagpur. Abhijeet Kokate, much awarded and applauded for his editing in Queen,is a Nagpurian and one of the film’s Directors. Prashen Kyawal, who used to pen film reviews for Nagpur Today, is the Creative Producer.
Santosh Deshpande is known to favour Nagpur whenever he launches any Business venture, not just films! Thirteen years ago when he founded BDA Pharma Pvt. Ltd with some international partners for export of mainly Ayurvedic Health care products it had its H.O. in Nagpur. Now his State of Art Pharmaceutical manufacturing Company is also based in Parseoni near Nagpur.
“I owe everything to this place, and I never miss a chance to give back” he says humbly.
Watch Santosh Deshpande chit-chat with Farhan
– By Sunita Mudaliar
