Dashrath Manjhi
Coordinates: 24°52′38″N 85°14′35″E / 24.877093°N 85.242956°E
Dashrath Manjhi (Hindi: दशरथ मांझी; 1934[1] - August 17, 2007[2]) was born into a poor labourer family in Gahlour village near Gaya in Bihar, India.[1] He is also known as Mountain Man.[3][4] Dashrath Manjhi's wife, Falguni Devi, died due to lack of medical treatment because the nearest town with a doctor was 70 kilometres (43 mi) away from their village in Bihar, India.
Dashrath did not want anyone else to suffer the same fate as his wife, so he carved a 360-foot-long (110 m) through-cut, 25-foot-deep (7.6 m) in places and 30-foot-wide (9.1 m) to form a road[5] through a mountain in the Gehlour hills, working day and night for 22 years from 1960 to 1982. His feat reduced the distance between the Atri and Wazirganj blocks of the Gaya district from 55 km to 15 km, bringing him national acclaim.[2][6][7].He died on August 17, 2007.[8] He was given a state funeral by the Government of Bihar.[8][9]
In popular culture [edit]
On March 16, 2013 the honourable Civil Court of Patna has passed an ad-interim injunction on the feature film being Directed by Ketan Mehta on the life story of Dashrath Manjhi who is popularly known as "Mountain Man". The court order states that the film on the life of Dashrath Manjhi cannot be released for public exhibition till the pendency of the suit. This order has been issued in response to the petition of Dhananjay Kapoor and Jamshed Ashraf where Dhananjay Kapoor has claimed that he has exclusive right to make feature film on the life story of Dashrath Manjhi. As per the petition instituted in Civil Court of Patna in December 2012, Dashrath Manjhi gave the exclusive right to Dhananjay Kapoor through an agreement dated 24th July, 2007.
In July 2010, director Manish Jha announced a film, Manjhi, based on the life of Dashrath Manjhi. The film is produced by Sanjay Singh, who previously produced Udaan (2010).[10] Dashrath Manjhi's story was shown on Aamir Khan's show Satyamev Jayate.[11][12] Nawazuddin Siddiqui has been cast in the lead role in the film Mountain Man, which is based on Manjhi's life.[13] In Mandara, a Kannada film by Jayatheertha, newcomer Srikanth plays the role of Dashrath Manji, who inspires the young hero's love.
References [edit]
- ^ a b "Love's labour brings down hill". Expressindia.com. May 24, 1997. Retrieved 2012-09-22.
- ^ a b "Mountain man Dashrath Manjhi dies in Delhi". Hindustan Times. August 17, 2007. Retrieved 2012-09-22.
- ^ Society (September 28, 2007). "The Mountain Man". The Viewspaper. Retrieved 2012-09-22.
- ^ "The man who made way for progress". Indian Express. July 1, 2012. Retrieved 2012-09-22.
- ^ Location of cut-trough: 24°52′38″N 85°14′35″E / 24.877093°N 85.242956°E
- ^ "CM visits ailing Dashrath Manjhi". The Times Of India. July 23, 2007.
- ^ "Man in India Carved 360 feet".
- ^ a b dreams_1116306 "Mountain man dies with unfulfilled dreams". DNA India. August 18, 2007.
- ^ "Dashrath Manjhi, the Man who Moved a Mountain". Success Stories. July 31st, 2012.
- ^ "One film at a time: Sanjay Singh". The Times of India. Jul 19, 2010.
- ^ "Satyamev Jayate: When Aamir Khan met the unsung heroes of India". Zeenews.india.com. July 30, 2012. Retrieved 2012-09-22.
- ^ Khan, Aamir (July 30, 2012). "Opinion / Op-Ed : The power of one can move a mountain, literally". The Hindu. Retrieved 2012-09-22.
- ^ "Nawazuddin to play lead in Ketan Mehta's Mountain Man". Bollywood Hungama. August 16, 2002. Retrieved January 28, 2013.
