‘Bridgeman of India’ Girish Bhardwaj’s life to get a biopic

Filmmaker Santhosh Kodenkeri is making a biopic on Girish Bhardwaj, who is often referred to as Sethu Bandhu and Bridgeman of India for building around 139 bridges in remote villages across the country. Girish was conferred the Padma Shri award in 2017.

Titled The Bridgeman, the film will be released in Kannada and Hindi. The project is a departure for Santhosh, who directed the Kannada horror thriller Home Stay in 2016.

"It's like parallel cinema," Santhosh told IANS. "It's in a similar space as Saand Ki Aankh or Manjhi: The Mountain Man, so the style of filmmaking will portray a true character and subject in a cinematic way. It is a bit challenging." 

On the film’s casting, the director added, "We have just completed scripting of the film and we require a lot of actors in the film. We are shooting the film in five different locations including Kerala and Hyderabad. We are in the process of casting, and very soon we will make an announcement."

Talking about the release of the film, he said, "We are planning to release the film in 2021 but it depends on the geographical aspect as well because we want to show the monsoon period and heavy water flow in rivers. Either we have to do it against a green mat with VFX or we have to shoot the film at real locations. So, we are also working on production design of the film."