Kolkata, Jan 8 (PTI) Filmmaker Suvendu Raj Ghosh on Thursday said that his upcoming movie "Main Mulayam", a biopic on former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, explores the humble background and personal struggles of the politician.

The three-hour-long movie retraces Yadav's rise from his early days in UP politics to his first term as chief minister during the period 1972 to 1989.

Talking to PTI on the sidelines of the film's trailer launch here, Ghosh said the movie is more about Yadav as a person and less as a politician.

Asked how can the political reference to Yadav's career can altogether be shunned in the biopic, even if it covers only a fragment of his long career, the filmmaker said, "We have retained the political references as much is important but sought to stick to his personal struggles more."

The episode of Emergency during 1975 and the incarceration of Singh for one and a half years when he was with the Janata Dal have also been touched upon in the movie.

"Being a feature film, we have weaved the fact with the narrative style of the storytelling," he added.

Ghosh said they used extensive set pieces to recreate the era of 1970s and 1980s for the film.

"From 10 paisa coin to mark 4 ambassador car models have used every set piece to recreate that era look. The sets have also been created in studio to leave no stone unturned," he added.

Actor Amyth Sethi, who portrays Yadav in the movie, said he had to learn wrestling for four months as Yadav was very fond of this ancient Indian sports.

The actor, who hails from Kolkata, said as part for his research for the character, he read every article about the politician after being picked up for role and followed the director's word and the script.

The film was shot in Chandigarh, Mumbai, parts of Uttar Pradesh, Jaipur and Kolkata.

The cast also includes Govind Namdeo, Mukesh Tiwari, Sayaji Shinde, Zarina Wahab, Anupam Shyam, and Mimoh Chakraborty.

"Main Mulayam" is scheduled to be released theatrically on January 22.

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