"I always wanted to make a comedy. I discussed my story idea with script writer Ashok Mishra who wrote a beautiful script and I decided to make a film on it," Benegal said in Mumbai.
Benegal said Welcome to Sajjanpur is set in a village of Madhya Pradesh and the entire set has been recreated at the Ramoji film city in Hyderabad.
"I chose my actors as per the demands of the script and for this film, Shreyas Talpade, Amrita Arora, Ravi Kisshen fitted the bill perfectly," he added.
He said Welcome to Sajjanpur is a story of Mahadev (played by Shreyas) who is one of the few educated young men from Sajjanpur. His ambition is to be a novelist but finds it easier to make a living by writing letters sitting next to the post office.
His ability to write persuasive letters makes him popular with the largely non-literate population of the town. Aware of this power, he soon uses his talent to manipulate people with amusing and sometimes not so amusing results.
He said he completed the film late last year. The producers, UTV Spotboy, have decided to release it on September 19.
Benegal said multiplexes had wiped out the divide between mainstream and new cinema. "Today, multiplexes have given audiences a tremendous choice. There is place to cater to different tastes and sensibilities of audiences which did not exist earlier. Due to the lack of theatres, there were no high risk ventures to meet the interests of all sections of the audience. The changing trend in cinema business is a very positive sign," said Benegal, who is considered one of the pioneers of new cinema in the 70s.
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