Manish
Tiwary
is
the
first
filmmaker
to
be
granted
permission
to
shoot
Varanasi's
oldest
Ramleela
for
his
film
Issaq.
Manish
has
a
special
relationship
with
Varanasi.
After
all,
the
director's
uncle
is
the
Maharaja
of
Banaras.
And
thanks
to
his
connections
with
the
royalty,
Manish's
film
has
captured
one
of
the
city's
oldest
Ramleelas
that
has
been
running
across
three
centuries.
The
director's
maternal
uncle
is
the
Maharaja
Anant
Narayan
Singh.
Manish's
film,
Issaq,
which
is
an
adaptation
of
Shakespeare's
classic
Romeo
and
Juliet,
has
been
shot
in
Varanasi.
A
source
from
the
sets
says,
"
The
Ramleela
has
been
running
in
the
city
since
the
past
300
years.
Never
before
has
anyone
apparently
got
the
permission
to
shoot
Varanasi's
biggest
Ramleela
at
Ramnagar
and
Nati
Imli."
The
director
says,
"I
actually
started
my
film
career
by
making
a
short
feature
on
this
Ramleela.
At
that
time,
my
maternal
grandfather
was
the
Maharaja.
So
I
had
received
the
permissions
to
go
ahead
with
my
shoot.
This
particular
event
has
not
been
exposed
to
modern
technology.
The
traditions
have
been
kept
intact
and
there
are
no
extra
lights
or
mics
used."
The
Maharaja's
Ramleela
attracts
a
huge
crowd
of
people,
around
10
lakh.
While
shooting
for
Prateik-
Amyra
Dastur
starrer,
Manish
says
he
successfully
managed
to
avoid
any
security
hassles
for
his
cast
and
crew.
"Varanasi
is
my
hometown
and
I
had
a
sense
of
confidence
while
shooting
there.
People
there
are
used
to
seeing
movie
makers
visiting
the
city
so
they
tend
to
ignore
you."
Issaq
is
slated
to
release
on
the
26th
of
July
2013.