Mere Pyare Prime Minister, which makes an appeal to the PM is also a buddy film exploring the theme of friendship through these four kids.
Director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra has been quietly shooting his next directorial, Mere Pyare Prime Minister, in a Ghatkopar slum. The film revolves around four kids -- Kanhaiya, Nirala, Ringtone and Mangala who is the leader of the group -- who live in a Mumbai slum.
"The subject has been simmering on a slow fire for three years. I'm a Delhi boy and all my films -- Rang De Basanti, Delhi 6, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag and Mirzya -- were all set in the North. But I've been living in Mumbai since 1988 and seen it transform into a world city. The buildings are taller now but there are still slums around them that have always intrigued me and made me follow the path of Salaam Bombay, Slumdog Millionaire and other stories which have grown out of them," the director told Mumbai Mirror.
Rakeysh ventured into the slums during a month-long reccee and while hanging out with kids, was amazed at how vibrant their life was despite all the challenges. "Your mindset is shaped by your perceptions. Someone living in a taller building would look down on the slums and their inmates without realising that someone living in a high-rise would also be looking down at them. Ditto developing countries viz-a-viz richer nations. My film is not so much about comparisons as it is a story of people and relationships, survival and not giving up, the endeavour to lead a better life. There is no attempt to overplay or undermine, it's about seeing this world through different eyes and finding beauty and inspiration in it," he says. He also points out that they started out shooting a Holi song with 200 people and by the time it was over there were 1,000 people around and everyone was soaked in colours.
Mere Pyare Prime Minister, which makes an appeal to the PM is also a buddy film exploring the theme of friendship through these four kids. Three years ago, Rakeysh, with an NGO from Ahmedabad, visited the Gandhi Ashram and after seeing the Mahatma's model toilets started an initiative to build toilets in municipal schools. "In the first year we built 20, then, over the next two years, we've built 800," says the director whose eight-year-old protagonist, Kanhaiya wants to build a toilet for his young, single mother Sargam played by National Award winner Anjali Patil.
The tabloid asked Rakeysh if the film inspired by Narendra Modi's Swachch Bharat campaign, to which he replied, "The idea was with me before the present government came to power and raised awareness about cleanliness. I was just not in a hurry to make it till I hit on the right story."
With Akshay Kumar's upcoming Toilet Ek Prem Katha, also dealing with the same subject, won't it cut into his audience? "Five Bhagat Singh films had been made before but I still made Rang De Basanti. I'm happy another film is being made on this topical subject. It's a story that needs to be told to a larger audience across the country and the world and the more the merrier," says Rakeysh.
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 "Bollywood, Akshay Kumar, Toilet, Mere Pyare Prime Minister, ,rakeysh omprakash mehra,rang de basanti,ahmedabad,Toilet: Ek Prem K")
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