True story of living 'dead' to come alive on screen

Lucknow, Apr 7 (UNI) The story of Lal Bihari 'Mritak', who remained 'dead' in Uttar Pradesh revenue records for 18 years only to come alive after a determined struggle, will be depicted on celluloid by known film director Satish Kaushik.

The tale of Lal Bihari, resident of Azamgarh district, had exposed the administrative lacuna in the system when his greedy relatives, in collusion with lower level revenue officials, decalred him dead to grab his land.

His vociferous pleadings about his 'existence' fell on deaf ears of the system until he fought to regain his 'alive' status.

Lal Bihari, alongwith several other 'dead' persons not only fought for his existence, but took up the cause of making them 'alive' again. He formed a 'Mritak Sangh' (Association of dead) and staged dharnas in the UP and national capitals to heighlight their predicament.

Shocked by news reports in this regard, filmmaker Satish Kaushik decided to make a film on the subject with the likelyhood of film star Anil Kapoor playing the title role.

''I have put in a lot of research into this and visited Azamgarh many times to gather relevent information,'' Kaushik told UNI on the occasion of the premier of his latest directorial venture 'Shadi Se Pahle' produced by showman Subhash Ghai.

Kaushik said it came as a shock to know that in UP alone several 'dead' persons are striving for want of justice. ''This existence being denied in the civil society in such manner was a story I thought should come out for the general public.'' The cast and other finalities would take place soon, Kaushik said. Agreeing the subject would be a departure from his genre of films, he said ''this true story is too fascinating for me to ignore.'' UNI SB VS SHB RS1408