Lal Bihari “Mritak”, the man who spent four decades trying to prove that he was alive after he was declared “dead” in revenue records, will finally come alive on the silverscreen.
Lal Bihari “Mritak”, the man who spent four decades trying to prove that he was alive after he was declared “dead” in revenue records, will finally come alive on the silverscreen.
Well-known director Satish Kaushik is now making a film on the life of Lal Bihari “Mritak” with a working title “Main Zinda Hoon”. The film is expected to expose the system where living persons are declared “dead in revenue records by relatives with the intention of usurping their properties”. Lal Bihari, a resident of Azamgarh district, was one of those who had been declared “dead” by revenue officials. Instead of giving up, Lal Bihari decided to fight. According to him, relatives often connive with revenue officials and submit a fake death certificate after which the property owner is declared “dead” and the property gets passed on to the relatives or heir. “There are hundreds of such cases, especially in eastern UP, and I decided I would not let go of my land. First, I went meeting officials and telling them that I was alive but it was of no use. Then I contested elections and even kidnapped a man so that I could get into government records with my own identity. I even formed the ‘Mritak Sangh’ and clubbed ll such cases together. I add suffixed ‘Mritak’ to my name,” he recalled.
After a prolonged battle, Lal Bihari was finally declared “alive” in 1994 but he continues to battle against the system for others who are deemed “dead”.
Satish Kausik read about his struggle and felt that this was the time to make a film since biopic is the flavour of the season. “Besides, there could not be a more inspirational story than this,” he said.
