Jha’s set destroyed in Bhopal
The local authorities in Bhopal recently demolished a major set of the film Arakshan, starring Deepika Padukone and Saif Ali Khan. Director Prakash Jha was planning to shoot a few patchwork scenes with the lead pair on the set, but now has been forced to put his plan on hold.
It is said that the district magistrate office in Bhopal ordered the demolition.
The set that was demolished was spread over an acre-and-half of land and included an entire bungalow that was owned by the character played by Amitabh Bachchan in the film and parts of a tabela (cowshed), where informal schools were set up in the film.
Jha, who is really upset with the demolition of the set, says, “The demolition has definitely upset our plans. There were a couple of patchwork scenes with Saif and Deepika that remained to be shot. Now we have to look for some alternative arrangement.”
Prakash Jha Productions had taken the land on lease from the Minal Residency Group, not realising that it was a disputed property. “We had no idea that the land where we had constructed the set was disputed,” said Jha.
The director further goes on to add that the sets shouldn’t have been destroyed considering it was just a temporary structure. “We had constructed only temporary structures for the purpose of shooting. Why demolish it? It would have been dismantled within a month,” he said.
But now that the entire set is destroyed with some scenes still left to be shot, it’s very likely that the project might get delayed.
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