Mulayam Singh Yadav's biopic fails to hit screens

Film's budget was estimated at Rs 30 cr and was projected to be completed and launched by Sept 2016

Even as Samajwadi Party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav was removed as the party president over a bitter power feud, his biopic, which was planned to be shot and released in 2016, has failed to see the light of day.

The biopic Neta ji: Mulayam Singh Yadav on the septuagenarian was announced with much fanfare at a hotel in Lucknow on August 12, 2015. The film's budget was estimated at Rs 30 crore and it was projected to be completed and launched around August-September 2016.

UP Cabinet Minister and Mulayam's younger brother, Shivpal Singh Yadav had launched the film's poster and memorabilia. It was planned to be released in both Hindi and English, while its central theme had been given the nod by the ruling Yadav clan, film's director Vivek Dixit had said.

In recent past, both Mulayam and Shivpal have been sidelined in the new power dynamics of the party. Chief Minister and SP President Akhilesh Yadav and his close aides are now calling the shots, although the deep divide is not being expressed publicly due to the ongoing UP Assembly polls.

The biopic was projected to sketch Mulayam's journey from the non-descript village of Saifai in Etawah district, where he was born to an ordinary agriculturist, to becoming the Uttar Pradesh chief minister in 1989; his first of three stints in office.

The film, under the banner of Godfather Films and Shilpa Motion Works, Mumbai, was being produced by Sandeep Shukla, Sarvjit Singh and Vivek Dixit.

"I have been deeply influenced by his (Mulayam) personality. My film would reflect the unknown facets of his personality and struggles," Dixit said. He informed the film would hit the floors in September 2015 and be completed in another 12 months.

Although, the proposed film's cast had not been finalised, Bollywood actors Rahul Bose and Raghuvir Yadav were rumoured to be the preferred choice to play the title role in the biopic.

In the past too, at least two paeans in the form of 'Chalisa' (40-verse rhythmic poetry) had been penned eulogising Mulayam.

Meanwhile, the film's fate is still unknown and its key officials could not be reached for comments.