Actor Ashwath Bhatt who is best known for working in films like Raazi, Khuda Hafiz 2, Sita Ramam, Mission Majnu, Kesari IB71 and many more talks about his upcoming film Mandali which is touted to be based around the exploitation of Ramleela play by incorporating obscene dances in between them in small towns.
Directed by Rakesh Chaturvedi Om, the film stars Rajniesh Duggall, Brijendra Kala, Aanchal Munjal and Abhishek Duhan in prominent roles. Produced by Prashant Kumar Gupta, Geetika Gupta and Neetu Sabarwal of Reltic Pictures, the film also stars an ensemble cast of Vineet Kumar, Kanwaljeet Singh, Alka Amin, Saharsh Shukla and Neeraj Sood.
Also read: Ek Mulaqat Manto Se by actor Ashwath Bhatt
Ashwath will be seen essaying an artiste who plays the character of Ram in Ramleela play. He said, "This role took me out of my milieu and gave me an opportunity to explore myself as a Ramleela artiste. It was a challenging role, as I had never played a character from a Hindi belt region before. However, I was eager to take on the challenge and learn as much as I could about the role and the culture it was from."
He adds, "Mandali mirrors the journey of a man and his struggle to uphold righteousness in times of diminishing social conscience and the downfall of cultural and traditional values. The movie is about the blurring lines of virtue and righteousness in this modern-age world portrayed through the characters of Ramleela."
Talking about the film's USP, he tells, "I think the USP is the bizarre social reality of our country especially in the Hindi belt where Ramleela is played, is depicted like never before on Indian cinema through this film. And I feel the truth should be seen and brought in front of the audience. It is inspired by Munshi Premchand's story. "