Patna boy’s reel take on job racket

Patna: Patna boy Rahul Ranjan is exposing a job racket in the government sector through his film movie Racket. The movie is based on true incidents in which a racket ensures that the mediocre, who lack qualification, get jobs and serve in top posts.

The film, released on May 25, ran two shows in Patna recently. “The film deals with how middlemen land state or central government jobs for the mediocre,” said Ranjan. “There are racketeers in society who ensure jobs to people who lack basic knowledge.”

The film is based on Ranjan’s personal experience. “The jobs racket in the government sector has increased manifold in the past 10 years,” Ranjan said. “I researched and found that the racket existed from before Independence but was restricted to dynasty in which one family member used to ensure jobs for his or her relatives. But it has now grown in a big way,” Ranjan said.

The movie is produced by AR Productions Pvt Ltd and has stars Mayank Shukla, Suman Jain, Disha Sachdeva, Vismay and Sandeep. The film cost Rs 1 crore and took two years to complete. Major portions of the two hour-two minute movie were shot in Mumbai, Virar, Lonavala and Pune.

Ranjan said that except for Vismay, all other stars are from outside Bihar. But many editors, music director, lyricists, assistant cameraman and sound designer in the movie are from Bihar.

Racket is Ranjan’s first feature film. He has directed a few short films too. His first short film in English, Epilogue, was released in 2012. He also directed a short Bhojpuri film called Daagi. Ranjan, 33, resides with his family at Bahadurpur, near Moin-ul-Haq Stadium in Rajendra Nagar locality of Patna. In the coming days, he will direct another film on Bihar and a sequel to Racket.

Ranjan’s father Manoranjan Kumar Ojha retired as station manager of Panta Junction. The youngest of three siblings, he did his schooling from Sir Ganesh Dutt Patliputra High School, Kadamkuan, and followed it by a BCom from Patna University. In 2005, he applied for a charted accountant course during which he went to Aptech where he got to direct a few plays for its annual function. From there, he decided to direct movies.

Courtesy: The Telegraph