DNA

The filmmaker will direct a period drama based on the historic Chittagong Uprising that took place during India’s struggle for freedom

Mumbai, Aug 9: Ashutosh Gowariker is taking a break from period dramas. His next film is a light-hearted romantic comedy starring Harman Baweja and Priyanka Chopra in the lead.

However, after this film the ace director will immediately go back to the genre he is best at and make a movie on the historic Chittagong uprising that happened during India’s struggle for independence from the colonial British rule.

“I have purchased the rights to a book called Do And Die written by Manini Chatterjee. This is about the Chittagong uprising set in the 1930’s. This is going to be my next film immediately after What’s Your Raashee?” Ashutosh told After Hrs.

The Chitagong uprising is an important chapter in India’s fight for freedom. The incident occurred when Surya Sen, a prominent Bengali freedom fighter and the chief architect of anti-British freedom movement in Chittagong (now in Bangladesh), raided the Chittagong armoury on April 18, 1930 to capture arms and ammunition and destroy government communication system to establish a local governance.

Two years later Pritilata Waddedar, an anti-British pro-India revolutionary in East Bengal, led an attack on a European club in Chittagong in 1932. At the same time, Bina Das, a member of a semi-revolutionary outfit for women in Kolkata, attempted to assassinate Stanley Jackson, the Governor of Bengal inside the convocation hall of the Calcutta University. This period from the 1930’s to ‘34 was one of the tense periods for British Raj and Ashutosh’s film is set to relive all this.

However, Ashutosh is not to keen to disclose details about the film. He said he hasn’t even thought about the cast and it is “What’s Your Raashee?” that is his top priority now.

Since “What’s Your Raashee?” deals with the tradition of arranged marriage and the influence of astrology in them, we asked Ashutosh if he believed in it.

“For my convenience, yes. If something good is written then I tend to believe it and if it’s not good then I absolutely reject it,” he says. “So, I take astrology with a pinch of salt.”

Ashutosh is also known for his grandeur in set design, mastery over aesthetics and also his lengthy movies. So, will the Harman-Priyanka movie be as lengthy and have the same grandeur as his earlier films?

“It is a comedy. So it cannot be the same as my other movies. The story has to be narrated in about two hours or two hours fifteen minutes. That’s a big ask - taking away one hour from me,” he laughs.

“It will be a challenge telling a story in a shorter time. In a way again the choice of the script will keep me away from the grand sets. But I won’t miss it as this film does not require all those,” adds Ashutosh.