A debutant director is hoping his film on saving a tree,starring Mithun and Gulshan Grover,inspires more films on environmental subjects From the storyline,this may appear to be another run the mill product,a film about the victory of good over evil. However,there is a topical twist to the tale. Zor Laga Ke Haiyya,a two-hour film,sees the good bunch being played by fervent children who have taken on the giant builder lobby of Mumbai,with a mission to save a humongous tree in their residential complex,perhaps the only one left. With five children playing the protagonists and actor Mithun Chakravorty playing a supporting character,director Girish Joshi is hoping to sensitise audiences with his debut movie. Its an entertainment-cum-message oriented movie. Save one tree at a time,thats what I have tried to weave into the movie, says Joshi. A software engineer based in the US for a few years,Joshi came to India in 2001 to pursue a career in the film industry. Assisting several directors,Joshis moment of realisation came after the July 26 deluge of 2005. Although I have always been an environment lover,until the deluge I never looked at the issue of environment hazards and the levels to which we have abused nature. After reading newspapers and researching on the issue,I seriously decided to make a mainstream movie on nature, says Joshi. The journey wasnt easy. I had my script ready by late 2005. But it took me two years to get a financier to produce this movie. Environment isnt a Bollywood concept,and you are more likely to be rejected from all quarters. I was lucky to have had some friends who helped me pull strings and get a producer. But Joshi was by no means unlucky with his starcast. The movie cast,apart from Mithun,includes Seema Biswas,Sachin Khedekar,Mahesh Manjrekar,Gulshan Grover,Riya Sen and five children named Ashwin Chitale,Ayesha Kaduskar,Meghan Jadhav,Hardik Thakkar and Hrithwik. I approached them once and they all agreed. While the elder ones were hooked on the very moment I narrated the script,for kids it was the star attraction that appealed. The movie revolves around a running battle between Mithun and the kids who are eyeing a tree house. For the children,the sentiments attached to the tree house are prime. For vagabond Mithun,it offers a shelter. Although a serious issue,Joshi claims he has tried to add in a humorous touch. Mithun begins as a villainous character,but later he teams up with the kids to break the builder giant Grover, says Joshi. Scheduled to be released on June 12,Joshi plans to take the movie to colleges and schools and use it as a tool to educate the younger generation. I am getting the jitters as the day of release approaches. Successful or not,I really feel films are a great way to make people realise their responsibility towards nature, he signs off.
