Some films sink at the box office, yet their stories feel so real that while watching them you forget a movie is even playing on the screen. It feels as if a true event from your own neighbourhood is unfolding before your eyes. 'Sehar', released in 2005 under the direction of Kabir Kaushik, was one such film, and it was loved by audiences in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh. Arshad Warsi and Sushant Singh played the leads, and it is regarded as the finest film of Arshad Warsi's career.
A rare example of realistic cinema
'Sehar' is considered a remarkable example of realistic cinema. Apart from Arshad Warsi and Sushant Singh, the film featured powerhouse performers like Pankaj Kapur, Mahima Chaudhry and Rajendra Gupta. Arshad Warsi played Lucknow's then SSP Arun Kumar. The story, screenplay and dialogues were all written by Kabir Kaushik himself. The film peels back the layers of the crime world in Uttar Pradesh and its nexus with politics.
A story drawn from a real gangster's life
The plot of 'Sehar' was based on the life of UP's notorious gangster Shri Prakash Shukla. In the film his character was named Gajraj Singh, while the rest of the characters closely resembled their real counterparts. The film references the Chillupar assembly seat in Gorakhpur district, from where the bahubali MLA Harishankar Tiwari once contested elections. Tiwari was an MLA and minister from this seat five times in a row. Shri Prakash belonged to the same area, the village of Mamkhor, and he too wanted to contest from this very seat.
The name that struck terror across the state in the 1990s
In the 1990s, this dreaded Gorakhpur gangster Shri Prakash Shukla spread terror across the entire state. A native of Mamkhor village, he used to demand ransom under the name Ashok Singh and was linked to Bihar's Suraj Bhan Singh gang. His father was an A-grade contractor, not a teacher. From childhood he had a taste for the gangster lifestyle, which is why he stepped into the world of crime. In September 1998, the UP STF gunned him down in an encounter in Ghaziabad's Indirapuram. An interesting detail is that the very first picture of Shri Prakash Shukla was created using a photo of Bollywood actor Suniel Shetty.
It is said that Shri Prakash Shukla had taken a contract to kill the then Chief Minister Kalyan Singh. The UP STF was set up specifically to eliminate him. This entire story is laid out in detail in the film, since Kabir Kaushik made it after thorough research. However, when the film released in 2005, Mumbai was hit by heavy floods at the same time, which kept people from reaching the cinemas to watch it.
What the actors themselves said about the performances
Sushant Singh, who played Gajraj Singh, the character based on Shri Prakash Shukla, said in an interview that wherever he travels in North India, he does not come across a single person who has not seen 'Sehar'. He recalled, 'My fans tell me, the film you did, I have watched it 25 times sir, it is a brilliant film. Even today if you watch this film you will find technically powerful performances in it. You will not feel that it is a 20-year-old film. When director Kabir Kaushik told me the casting, I thought Arshad Warsi was playing an IPS role and I felt he would not be able to pull it off properly, but when I watched the film I was blown away by his acting. The way Arshad performed, the film became realistic.'
Arshad Warsi too expressed his fondness for the film in an interview. He said, 'Sehar is one of my favourite films. This film has a special kind of realism and depth.'
The journey from a flop to a cult classic
The film was so realistic that even after stepping out of the theatre, its characters kept circling in viewers' minds for days. It was watched the most in the Hindi belt. While it flopped at the box office, it racked up crores of views on YouTube. Later, Zee5 made a web series titled 'Rangbaaz' on Shri Prakash Shukla, which audiences embraced wholeheartedly.
Films like 'Sehar' are made only once in a while. Made on a budget of 4 crore, the film did business of only 2.4 crore at the box office. Despite being a flop, it is counted among cult movies today and has a devoted fan base. No matter how many times you watch it, you never have enough. It is one of the few Bollywood films that show the face of real cinema, and it has settled into the hearts of viewers forever.
