Kamal Pandey: Would Love To Write A Biopic On The First Hero Of Dalit Consciousness, Kanshi Ram

“His extraordinary life, his story deserves to be voiced and heard,” says Kamal Pandey. The ace writer opens up about how he wants to write a biopic on the life of Kanshi Ram and the circumstances leading to his death.

Prateek Sur

Updated on: 4 May 2023 1:29 pm

Kamal Pandey

From ‘Run’, ‘Shagird’, ‘Saheb, Biwi Aur Gangster Returns’ to ‘Milan Talkies’ and ‘Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana’, Kamal Pandey is the writer of some notable films. He has also written the TV show ‘Na Aana Iss Desh Mere Laado’ and produced the show ‘Ruk Jana Nahi’. During the lockdown, he had written and directed the movie titled ‘Jahaan Chaar Yaar’. His latest web series ‘Garmi’ on Sony Liv has been received well. He has been on cloud nine and after a lot of wait he opens up about what he is going to do next.

“I am happy and thankful about all the good things and feedback that came for ‘Garmi’. Such things matter,” he smiles.

Next, he is working on another script. “This is for my new film. It's on the verge of completion. Apart from that, the development of a new web series has started, which is on a new subject as well and will definitely surprise the country,” he reveals.

Kamal considers Kamaleshwar aka writer Kamaleshwar Prasad Saxena as his mentor. “Kamleshwar ji was a very renowned writer of Hindi literature. He had also written a bunch of movies for Gulzar Sahab namely – ‘Aandhi’, ‘Mausam’, etc. They were made on his own stories. His personality was magical. I consider him my guru. In my early days in Delhi, he guided me and introduced me to screenwriting. Kamleshwar ji also was the prime contributor to me coming to Mumbai,” he shares.

Ask if he would like to write a biopic on someone and Kamal is quick to answer, “There are many characters in history whose lives I want to write a film on. But my heartfelt desire is to write and make a film on Kanshi Ram's life. He was the first hero of Dalit consciousness in the Hindi belt whose tireless struggle led to the establishment of a Dalit government for the first time in Uttar Pradesh when a Dalit became the Chief Minister from his party.”

“But his last days passed in very strange circumstances and there is quite a mystery regarding his death. However, his life was extraordinary and his story deserves to be voiced and heard,” concludes Kamal.