Rakyesh Omprakash Mehra has been shooting his next film, Mere Pyare Prime Minister, in a slum in Bombay’s Ghatkopar area. The film revolves around four kids, one of whom wants to build a toilet for his single mother.
Three years ago, Rakyesh Mehra and an NGO from Ahmedabad visited Gandhi’s ashram, and seeing the model toilets there, wanted to bring it to the municipal schools in Bombay. They’ve built about 800 so far. Rakyesh says they calculated that a certain high-rise apartment block near the slum had approximately 1000 toilets, but their entire slum, with about 5000 shanties, didn’t have any. “These 10×10-feet shanties are spotlessly clean with a one-in-all living room, kitchen and bedroom, only no bathroom.”
Rakyesh says the film is also an appeal to the Prime Minister, and says that he began work on this subject even before the current government came to power.
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“The subject has been simmering on a slow fire for three years. I’m a Delhi boy and all my films — Rang De Basanti, Delhi 6, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag and Mirzya — were all set in the North. But I’ve been living in Mumbai since 1988 and seen it transform into a world city.
The buildings are taller now but there are still slums around them that have always intrigued me and made me follow the path of Salaam Bombay, Slumdog Millionaire and other stories which have grown out of them,” Rakyesh told Mumbai Mirror.
Image Courtesy: India.com