Ekta Kapoor is all set to make a movie on ‘the milkman of India’, Dr Verghese Kurien’s life. The film will be directed by Shree Narayan Singh, who made his Bollywood debut with Toilet: Ek Prem Katha. The movie would be based on Kurien’s autobiography, ‘I Too Had A Dream’ and Balaji Motion Pictures has already acquired the rights for it.
A story that needs to be told! Proud to bring Dr. Verghese Kurian’s Operation Flood to the big screen with @ToiletTheFilm director @ShreeNSingh. pic.twitter.com/yJeL26I2sv
— Ekta Kapoor (@ektaravikapoor) February 6, 2018
In a press statement, talking about the collaboration with Shree Narayan Singh, Ekta Kapoor said:
“Balaji has always strived to bring interesting stories on screen, and the story of Dr. Verghese Kurien is not only engaging but extremely inspiring too. I am delighted to collaborate with Shree Narayan Singh to tell the story of a true visionary.”
Director Shree Narayan Singh told IANS that the film will talk not only talk about Amul and its success story but also ‘Dr Verghese Kurien’s role in empowering general public, especially women at the grassroot level’. Elaborating about Kurien’s life, Singh said:
“Kurien was a visionary businessman, philanthropist and a great human. He wanted to study nuclear engineering but ended up in the dairy industry.”
Known as the Father of White Revolution in India, Kurien was the mind behind Amul, country’s biggest dairy co-operative. Amul, not only brought about a milk revolution in the country, it also gave the rural population of Anand (Gujarat) a self-sustainable economy, and particularly helped in empowering women.
This isn’t the first time someone is making a movie inspired by the life of Dr Kurien. In 1976, veteran director Shyam Benegal made Manthan starring iconic actors like Smita Patil, Girish Karnad, Naseeruddin Shah, Amrish Puri and Kulbhushan Kharbanda. The film won National Award for the Best Feature Film (Hindi) and Best Screenplay Award went to Vijay Tendulkar in 1977.
Ekta Kapoor’s Balaji Motion Pictures has, earlier, produced critically-acclaimed movies like Dirty Picture and Ragini MMS. Meanwhile, Shree Narayan Singh is busy with his next, Shahid Kapoor starrer Batti Gul Meter Chalu.
Also read: After Padmavati, Shahid Kapoor to collaborate with Toilet: Ek Prem Katha’s director
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