Monday,
April
10,
2006
Lucknow
(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,
declared
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.''
Recent
Stories
Anil
Kapoor
named
Global
Ambassador
Kabhi
Alvida
Na
Kehna
title
issue