Director Neeraj Sahay, whose latest film ‘The UP Files’ is currently running in theatres, spoke about making a film on the life and work of the current Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath. In an exclusive interview with IndiaToday.in, he spoke about the need to make a political film and the purpose behind it.

Sahay said, “It is not about the life story of Yogi Adityanath ji. It is inspired by his work for a state. It shows his journey as a leader of Uttar Pradesh. We are not talking about his personal life, we are talking about his work here. Our intention is to make a film that can inspire other state leaders to show courage like him.”

The director recalled other films based on Uttar Pradesh. He said most of these films glorify UP as a criminal state and as a filmmaker and someone who hails from the state, he is irritated by this. “Most films based on Uttar Pradesh show the negative side of the state. This is a positive film about its development. We are not showing any criminal activity. We are saying that there is a leader who understood the essence of his state and worked towards development,” he said.

He said, “I am from UP. I know how the state was plagued with crime, gang wars, crimes against women. There were many chief ministers before Yogi ji, but none of them cared about fixing the problem. It was always about politics. Yogi Adityanath is a saint. He only focused on the transformation of this state. We felt there was a need to highlight the problem and show how one man did the unimaginable.”

According to Neeraj Sahay, ‘The UP Files’ is an attempt to make a film that can inspire other leaders of the country and help them change. He concludes, “It also aims to make other state leaders feel guilty and ashamed of their work. We want them to watch our film and feel inspired to do better for the people of their state.”

National Award winning actor Manoj Joshi is playing a role inspired by Yogi Adityanath in this film. It also stars actors like Milind Gunaji, Anil George, Manjari Fadnis, Ali Asgar and Aman Verma. The film is produced by Kuldeep Umraosingh Ostwal.