Better connectivity to attract more filmmakers to Madhya Pradesh: Ashutosh Rana

BHOPAL: His creative works are a reflection of his personality. Whether he is portraying a character on celluloid, anchoring a show or penning a piece, Ashutosh Rana’s passion for work shines through. That is probably what explains his second book ‘Ram Rajya’ - a novel - bagging the National Sahitya Akademi Award for 2020, recently announced by the MP government.Rana, born in Narsinghpur district, said in a telephonic with TOI, “You may get all the laurels across the world, but it is special to get appreciated at home. More so because along with masses, one also desires to be recognised by literary institutions.” If his screen portrayals break the cliches, his award-winning Hindi novel presents some of the most maligned mythological characters of Ramayana - Kaikeyi, Shoorpnakha and Kumbhakarna- in a manner that makes you look at them in a different light. Rana said, “All those who worship Rama believe that anything that comes in contact with the divinity, turns beautiful. Then how could Shoorpnakha be ugly? Kaikeyi showered all the love on King Dashrath’s children and taught son Bharat to follow his eldest brother always, then why did she ask the kingdom for her own son? Was Kumbhakaran given the reputation of being a lazy rakshasa just to divert attention from the fact that he was a scientist? I haven’t digressed from the original story but just raised some questions which are logical. Maybe, Valmiki’s story was interpreted differently.”
Rana is fiercely proud of his home state. “MP is blessed to have so many national parks, historic and scenic beauty. But it has very few airports; existing ones aren’t well connected with major cities. Better air connectivity will attract more filmmakers and tourists to MP. ”