"Despite being the President, Rajen Babu always spoke to people from Bhojpuri-speaking regions in his mother-tongue and when Nasir sahab met him, he expressed his desire to see a film in Bhojpuri language being made," says film scholar and critic Alok Ranjan.
For Hussain, who hailed from Ghazipur in eastern Uttar Pradesh, the chance encounter proved to be a catalyst that helped turn a dream into an obsession.
The film starring Kum Kum of "C.I.D" fame and featuring the voices of Lata Mangeshkar and Mohammed Rafi, in soulful renditions was released in 1963 to critical and commercial applause.
The festival opened with "Ganga Maiyya..." on November 13 followed by "Dangal", the first colour cinema in Bhojpuri followed by "Dagabaz Balma" starring Padma Khanna, the next day. Recent films like "Hamar Dewdas" among others also feature in the line-up.
"The fruition of this festival is like the making of the first Bhojpuri cinema, beset with challenges and great difficulties, but despite thin audience and absence of stars invited for the festival, I find solace in the fact that we finally made it happen," says National Award-winning critic and festival co-ordinator Vinod Anupam.
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