MUMBAI: Sanjay Suri has been out of Mumbai for the better part of the year shooting for his various films. While his Sikandar released this week, he has recently completed a bilingual film in Assam’s Majuli Island, which is the world’s largest river island.

Suri talks about his film, which is being simultaneously shot in Assamese and Hindi, “It is loosely based on the disappearance of Sanjay Ghosh, the writer. According to the law, if a person is missing for over 7 years, he is declared dead. A thriller format, I play the journalist who is on the hunt for his friend, who people believe has been abducted by extremists and is dead.”

Shooting for this film has been a logistical nightmare for the actor. As there was not enough accommodation available for the entire unit, the cast and crew were put up at Jorhat and they would have to go on boats to shoot at Majuli island. Recalls Suri, “The place was so tiny that one vegetable vendor could not supply veggies for the entire unit. Several were roped in to provide food and essentials. The unit of 80 to 90 people were spread across nine different living quarters. During the second half of our shoot, things got out of control as it was the pre election phase. Bomb blasts were a normal occurrence. Once we were camped just 200 metres from the local police station when a bomb burst.”

The film has been shot by Assamese film maker Bidyut Hazarika and has Victor Bannerji, Raj Zutshi and a new actress from West Bengal in the lead. Suri stayed put in Assam for 30 days, shooting for this film.

Credits: businessofcinema