“Ajey: The Untold Story of a Yogi will always be an important chapter in my life” – Priyank Dubey

After facing a lot of hurdles, ‘Ajey: The Untold Story of a Yogi’ managed to get a release in cinemas last month. The film, which released on September 19, was based on the book ‘The Monk Who Became Chief Minister’. The book, authored by Shantanu Gupta, happened to be a biography of Yogi Adityanath, who has been the longest-serving chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. The film featured Anant Vijay Joshi in the titular role and also had actors like Paresh Rawal, Dinesh Lal Yadav and Pavan Malhotra playing prominent parts.

A screenplay was carved out of the book by writers Priyank Dubey and Dilip Bachchan Jha. Apart from being one of the writers, Priyank Dubey also served as the creative producer of the film along with Mayank Dubey.

In this film, Priyank talks about ‘Ajey: The Untold Story of a Yogi’, the struggle involved in getting the film made and released, the process of adapting a book for a film and more.

The film was stuck in censorship row for a very long time. What kind of emotions did you go through on September 19, the day the film finally managed to release in theatres?

All of us felt a sense of relief! It was a long battle. While the fight with the CBFC went on for a long time, the process of getting this film made was also quite intensive. All of us worked for 3-4 years to make this film happen. When the film released on September 19, we felt that our hard work has finally bore fruit.

What did you make of the response the film received from the audience?

I am happy with the response to ‘Ajey: The Untold Story of a Yogi’. The start was slow but gradually, it picked up. We always knew that it was a word-of-mouth film. If you go through the posts on social media, you realize that those who saw it liked it. What I felt happy about was that people from different sections of the society went to watch the film and appreciated it. With time, the film will be seen by more number of people. Many will discover it when it comes out on television and OTT. ‘Ajey: The Untold Story of a Yogi’ will always be an important chapter in my life.

Whose idea was it to adapt the book written by Shantanu Gupta and make a film out of it?

Ritu Mengi ji, who is one of the producers of the film, had met Shantanu in the US. Ritu ji had just launched her production house Samrat Cinematics. When she read this book, she felt that this should be the first project helmed by her production house. Ritu ji reached out to me for adapting this book into a screenplay for a film. I had read the book earlier and was highly inspired by it. I read it again and felt privileged to have been given the opportunity to adapt it. The process of writing the screenplay started and soon, other writers joined me in this process. Once the screenplay was ready, we shared it with the producers and the director. All of them liked the way it had shaped up. After that, we had to wait for almost three years to see the film getting made. The wait was worth it as the film shaped up very well.

When a film is made on a public figure, a section of the audience wonders whether it has been designed to glorify them. What was the objective behind making this film?

The first objective was to inspire people to contribute to the growth of the society we live in. The book itself is based on factual information. When you read the book, you realize this person has gone through a variety of experiences in his life. His experiences led him towards becoming somebody who is always willing to make sacrifices for others. He realized the importance of making sacrifices for the larger good of the society. He left home and became a yogi to serve the society. When he embarked upon this journey, he never imagined that one day he would become the chief minister of the largest state in the country. We strived towards making an entertaining, commercial film based on real incidents. The film has drama, comedy and strong dialogues.

In the past, one has seen Anant Vijay Joshi deliver noteworthy performances in films like ‘12^th Fail’, ‘Kathal’ and ‘Blackout’ and web shows like ‘Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein’ and ‘Maamla Legal Hai’. ‘Ajey’ is the first time he was seen in a titular role.

Anant is a brilliant actor! He went beyond our expectations and did something magical. He understood the sur of the character from day one. He is an effortless actor who makes everything look believable. We thought it would be quite challenging for him to play this part. However, he did not face any challenges and did a wonderful job as an actor. He was surrounded by incredible actors like Paresh Rawal ji, Nirahua ji and Pavan Malhotra ji, among others, who did complete justice to the parts they were playing.  

What are you doing next?

I am developing multiple scripts at the moment. One of them is an investigative thriller.