Manoj Tiwari now turns producer

In a reversal of roles, popular Bhojpuri playback singer-actor-music director Manoj Tiwari will now make his debut as a producer with bilingual film 'Hamid'.
'Hamid', made with a budget of Rs 4 crore, will be in Bhojpuri and Hindi and is slated to be released by April 2014.
"As a producer, my debut film will be titled 'Hamid', based on the life of Havildar Abdul Hamid, a soldier in the 4th battalion who sacrificed his life in Khem Karan sector during the Indo-Pak war in 1965 and was the posthumous recipient of the highest 'Param Vir Chakra' award," Tiwari announced here today.

The shooting of the film, produced by his home banner Litti-Chokha International Production, will begin from November, he said.
"We will shoot the film for 60 days non-stop to wrap up the project... Initially, we have pegged the budget at Rs 4 crore, which may escalate," he said.
Besides 'Hamid', Tiwari said two more films 'Veer Kunwar Singh' and 'Sher Shah Suri' are in the pipeline and all the three will be completed in next three years.

The script of 'Hamid' was penned by noted poet Kumar Viswas, a functionary of activist Arvind Kejriwal-led 'Aam Aadmi' party.
The cast would be more or less from the Bhojpuri film industry, he said.

Tiwari, who has over 200 songs in Bhojpuri, said he has also recorded songs in Bollywood movies including the upcoming Sajay Dutt starrer 'Sher'.
Asked why he could not get his due place in Bollywood as a playback singer, Tiwari said it was producer-directors choice.
The reality shows have given the producer-directors enough scope to pick up playback singers, he said.