Upcoming football drama ‘Kaanu’, has been declared as the first officially sanctioned film by the Jharkhand government, claims the director Prabhat Bhattacharya.

“We would call it an honour, and a result of our hardwork that ‘Kaanu’ is the first officially sanctioned film from the Jharkhand government and this is another milestone for our film,” said Prabhat in an interview.

He added, “Jharkhand tourist department is with us, it is the first film according to the film policy of the government, We are going to do a campaign as part of the promotion of the film and Jharkhand, which we have named as ‘Anmol Jharkhand with ‘Kaanu’.”

Prabhat said that the trend of states supporting films has become prominent recently with the U. P. Government and other governments also supporting films. He also recalls legendary director Satyajit Ray’s ‘Pather Panchali’ as being presented by West Bengal government, something which had inspired him a lot when he watched it.

“Jharkhand is a beautiful state, there are some spots which are very beautiful. You need to forget that it is a backward state with no progress, those were the old days of the state.

The kind of development work happening, the kind of roads being made and investment by the government into the infrastructure and its concentrated efforts, the kind of investments coming in, you won’t find shortage of anything there. Also since it is a small, hilly state, you get to see a lot of diversity,” he added.

‘Kaanu’ is a football-based film based around the character Kaanu, to be played by Prabhat and his journey with his football club, Ghat Shila Football Club. The football scenes have been shot at places such as Khelgaon, Ranchi, Jamshedpur in Jharkhand.

He also said, “Jharkhand government is planning to make one of India’s most up-to-date and state-of-the-art film city on 250 acres land. We are going to shoot on that location, which is outstanding, and we are going to be the first to shoot there even before it comes up.”

‘Kaanu’ also stars veteran star Anupam Kher in the role of a Bengali coach. The film is produced by Sai Sapney Entertainment and presented by Gaurango Filmcraft Academy.