Shailesh R Singh, the producer of many hit films, has announced his new film ‘Setu’ on 2nd June 2022. Vishal Chaturvedi will be directing this film. The film ‘Setu’ will be based on the Sethusamudram Ship Channel project that was sanctioned in 2004. In 2007, an interim judgment was passed on this project. According to reports, the film will be presented in the form of a courtroom drama about the same.
According to reports, Setu is a story of a common man who is pained by the government’s decision about the Sethusamudram project. He feels that the project is no less than a question of his very existence and therefore he decides to challenge the government in the court.
Shailesh R Singh said, “Before meeting Vishal, I always thought that the only issue people had with regards to this topic was around the Ramayana. But after he narrated the entire issue, I realized that the problem was much deeper. Now, I know that it has a strong socio-economic, security, and national heritage relevance to it. I am intrigued by this subject and proud of the story that we plan to tell the audience through the film.”
Director Vishal Chaturvedi has also shared his vision of directing this film. He said, “Even after officially getting freedom from the British, India was never out of their clutches. Not only did they control our politics, lives, and thought processes, but also drained our natural reserves and heritage. Setu is one such thriller that will address what we lost, what we are losing, and what we can save.”
Shailesh R Singh, Polaroid Media, and Wall Craft Media are producing this film whereas Karma Media and Entertainment will present it in association with Almighty Motion Picture. The shooting of the film ‘Setu’ will start by the end of 2022 and it is expected to release on Diwali 2023. The cast of the film will soon be announced. This is going to be the 20th film of Shailesh R Singh. His previous films include commercially successful films like Tanu Weds Manu, Shahid, Aligarh, Madaari, Omerta, and Thalaivi.
What was Sethusamudram Project?
The Sethusamudram Project was initiated in 2004 with the aim of creating a new shipping lane connecting the Bay of Bengal and Gulf of Mannar through the Palk Strait and Palk Bay. This has been embroiled in controversy since 2005 after the then Congress-led government proposed the Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project and Manmohan Singh inaugurated the project. The project proposed a shipping canal across the Gulf of Mannar, Palk Bay, and the Palk Straits to link the Arabian Sea with the Bay of Bengal. For this, a channel, passing through the limestone shoals of Ram Setu (also known as Rama’s Bridge or Adam’s Bridge), was to be dredged in the Sethusamudram sea between Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka. Many petitions were filed against it as this project would require disturbing and demolishing the existing parts of the Rama Setu which Lord Rama and his associates had built thousands of years ago to cross the sea and go to Sri Lanka. Rama Setu is a cultural heritage of India. The dredging works in the Rama Setu region were stopped by the orders of the Supreme Court in September 2007.
In 2007, the Congress Party, which does not believe in the existence of Shri Ram, had filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court to argue that Ram Setu which is believed to have been built by Lord Ram, lacked scientific and historical veracity. However, ten years later, the Modi government scrapped UPA’s stand on Ram Setu and decided to leave Ram Setu untouched.
