Horsing around with Sahiban

Horsing around with Sahiban
After winning awards and accolades for Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, the biopic of India's legendary athlete, `Flying Sikh' Milkha Singh, Rakyesh Omprakash Mehra has moved to Mirziya, a contemporary, musical retelling of the Mirza-Sahiban folklore. He has been filming in Rajasthan since mid-November with a team sworn to secrecy. As a result stills of the lead pair are hard to come by.

However, Mirror has managed to get hold of this picture of debutante Saiyami Kher sitting astride a horse being lead by Anil Kapor's son Harshvardhan Kapoor, who has his back to the camera. According to a source, "Horses play an integral part in the plot. And both Harsh and Sayami have taken extensive training in horse riding before the film went on the floors."

The film which is eyeing a 2015 Valentine's Day release, traces the familiar tale of Mirza, the archer who is killed when his beloved, Sahiban, breaks all his arrows to stop him from injuring her brothers, who are in hot pursuit of the eloping couple. Mirza is felled by a blow to his head and grief-stricken Sahiban then kills herself with his sword.

Speaking to Mirror (December 22, 2014) Mehra had said that he first read the story while in college. It stayed with him all these years. "I've been waiting to explore love on screen for a long time. As an emotion it's so illogical. You never know why you fall in love but it touches all of us at various points in life. Everybody on the sets has their own interpretation of the love story," the filmmaker had pointed out.

The two lovers' childhood will be set in Jodhpur while Udaipur, where this scene was shot, is the present day location. The climax will be filmed in Jaisalmer where the unit is currently based.

"They are shooting at a place two hours away from Jaisalmer," reveals the source, adding that the cast and crew will be moving to Ladakh for the final leg of MirzaSahiban's journey. "The film has technicians from England and Australia and a Polish cinematographer is working closely with the Indian cast and crew."