This entire Sitapur village was a movie set for 40 days

KANDUNI (SITAPUR): Kallu Rao's house in Kanduni village of Sitapur's Biswan was like any another brick and mortar structure in the village till the makers of the movie, 'Kaagaz', that went location hunting in the area about three years back to shoot the story of a man declared dead in government files for celluloid, found it fit to house the movie's male protagonist, Lal Bihari (played by Pankaj Tripathi).
Since then the house has seen few turnarounds, the thatched look of it was done away with and interiors were given a uplift with ply, walls got few motifs and were done in pink. With so much done to boost the look of the house without disturbing its original layout, owners of the house have nothing to complain about.
The movie was shot at Sitapur villages, tehsil and district for about 40 days.
Sharad Chaudhary, a local social entrepreneur, helped director Satish Kaushik spot this village. Chaudhary, a former civil servant who has taken voluntary retirement to devote his time to social work at his native place.
Kaushik has all good things to say about UP and this particular village. "UP has been declared the most shooting-friendly village for the past two years. This village is an example why. Out shooting was so smooth that we never thought we were shooting outdoors," he says.
On Friday, when the movie was screened for the villagers in Kanduni itself, most of them, sort of, got their old memories related to the shoot dusted off. Kallu Rao said, "It was for 14 days that the team was here. They (cast and crew) used to reach as early as 5.30 or 6 in the morning and we were told to vacate the house."
He was one of the eager audience at the venue where the movie was to be shown at a mobile theatre. His teenage son, Shailendra, had already watched the movie on his mobile a day before the premiere. Ask him if he wants to be an actor himself, the boy makes a failed attempt to hide his excitement. "Seekhe toh bahut hain team se (have learnt a lot from the team)," he said.
Rao's wife, Ramrani, had her own share of experience. "We used to cook in the night when our house was left to us totally and that was around 7 or 8 in the evening." For most part of the day family was living with the neighbours. "Shooting happened in October and the weather was easy," she said.
What makes the family happy is that their kitchen was left unchanged and the male lead was shown cooking 'rotis' in the same kitchen. The best part is that most villagers claim they have been shown in the movie. "I have played Lal Bihari's uncle in the movie. My shot was okayed in five retakes. I didn't even take clothes from the crew and had my clothes ready. I also did not take money and thought should help," said Ramchandar, a 'chowkidar' and a farmer.
The movie was shot about two years back but that has not made ten-year old Vikram forget how he played 'kanchas' at the shooting location. "Hopefully, I am there (in the movie)," the boy said.
Kanduni has been shown as a village from Azamgarh from where Lal Bihari originally comes. The movie was shot at Sitapur villages, tensil and district for about 40 days. Crew and cast had stayed at a hotel at Mishrikh and they (the shooting team) had a mess which took care of food and drinks. "We were given to eat too. They behaved well and never turned people away except when the shooting was on and only those who were part of the shoot were called," said Anita, who named her son as Raj (inspired by a popular Bollywood screen name) after he became a part of the movie. "Picture ke pehle scene mein Jo bachha hai woh yehi hai," claimed the mother while the toddler looked grumpy in her arms.
Another house that has been prominently shown in the movie is of Ramesh Shukla. The actress, Monal Gajjar who has played the character named Rukmini in the movie has it as her 'maayka' (maternal home).
On Friday, to make the event memorable a friendly cricket match was also organised between the Team Kagaz, representing the movie and Team Media. Actress Monal Gajjar who was at the event location did try her hand at batting. She also met the school students who had come to watch the movie.