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MUMBAI: Omkar Das Manikpur, better known as ? Natha? , the victim and poor farmer in the Oscar Nominated comic satire "Peepli Live" who contemplates suicide, stepped out of his reel character to cover the Bihar election for ? Live India? takes on the real-life role of a questioner at a press conference by BJP leader Arun Jaitley today. He walked away from all the chaos in his village in Peepli and is now heading towards Patna, to a possible chaos of sorts. He will be going to the corners of the state to find out the gamble of politics and whether the state has benefited from it ever with the help of Live India? s show ? Patna Live,? which will be a show dedicated to Bihar elections.
Omkar Das who essayed the role of Natha in the film that explored the issue of farmer suicides in the country, shot a list of questions related to daily life and common man? s problems at Arun Jaitley on rural poverty to the claims of RJD chief Lalu Prasad that he would form the government after the six-phase elections.
M r Arun Jaitley answered to Omkar Das? question saying, "I don?t know about Lalu Prasad?s claim, but I know the people?s claim that NDA will pull off spectacular performance and form the government again with comfortable majority in Bihar," as media men kept guessing about the identity of Omkar Das and came to know about him after several questions.
Omkar Das says, ? I respect Arun ji and after the question - answer session I touched his feet to seek his blessings. I am very happy for being here and Live India gave me a chance to share this platform with such dignities. I have seen poverty from very close in personal so I am well aware of all those adversities that a common man faces in Bihar and other parts of India.?
This whole concept is the brainchild of Live India? s CEO Mr. Sudhir Chaudhary. Mr Chaudhary could have gone ahead and done the usual coverage of the elections, but he did not choose to do the same. ? The character of ? Natha? was and still is the perfect example of the crude reality of the rural sector of our society.
For most of us sitting in the metros and still finding topics like traffic, pollution, and many others to crib about seems petty when compared to Natha, who comes as a wake up call by the help of the movie Peepli Live. We want to do the exact same thing at Live India when it comes to Bihar elections. We want the country to be with us and well versed with the state? s affairs. And who better to connect with than Natha himself. So now Natha will be the common voter? s face on television. I am glad that Omkar Das Manikpur
readily agreed to do the show Patna Live with us. I am looking forward to it,? says Mr Chaudhary.
Omkar was in Delhi recently to shoot for the promo of the show and understand a bit about the politics of Bihar. Patna Live will soon be aired on Live India. So wait and watch to know what Natha finds out in the bhiyaji land of India!
