Actor-turned-politician Ravi Kishan on Monday said he wanted to make a biopic on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Bhojpuri, the dialect which brought him stardom after years-long struggle in Bollywood.
Kishan—who wrested back for the BJP the prestigious Gorakhpur Lok Sabha seat earlier this year—said he decided to join the party after Modi's call for eradicating open defecation struck a chord with him.
"I come from a village where homes did not have toilets. I have seen my mother and other womenfolk suffer health problems and humiliation on this account. When Modi gave the clarion call for bringing an end to open defecation, I felt here is a man speaking about an issue close to my heart," Kishan told reporters at the Bihar BJP headquarters.
Showering praises on the prime minister for having instilled nationalistic pride in the people of the country, he said "chants of Bharat Mata ki Jai are energising".
"Unfortunately, we had been deprived of this legacy in the post-Independence era. Now, the blunders of Nehru are being corrected through abrogation of Article 370."
"Today, we have brought China on its knees while Pakistan has been left with a begging bowl. I am sure under the dynamic leadership of Modi and Amit Shah, we will be able to get back the Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir which belongs to us but has been captured by the neighbouring country", he said.
Making it clear that he was not giving up his acting career, Kishan said he was done with song and dance sequences and wanted to make serious films.
"I want to make serious films. I want to make a biopic on Modi in Bhojpuri. As an actor, I know how raw and real depiction of our leader can be made. I also wish to make Bhojpuri movies on Swami Vivekananda and revolutionary freedom fighters from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh."
The actor also said that he owed his success in Bhojpuri movies to the people of the state.
"I have acted in films in so many languages, including Telugu and Tamil. I feel a special connect with the people here and I had been eager to share my story of foray into politics with the public of the state.
"About fifty to sixty thousand families depend on Bhojpuri cinema for their livelihood and they find it difficult to make both ends meet while living and working in far off Mumbai," Kishan said.
He urged the Bihar government to take a cue from Maharashtra—where screening Marathi films has been made compulsory at cinema halls—and "ensure that all multiplexes in the state have at least one show of Bhojpuri movies daily. This will give the industry a much-needed boost".
