Filmmaker Aditya Aman on rise of Hindi heartland in cinema: No sets, only real stories, locations and actors

FIlmmaker Aditya Aman, who is debuting with his feature shoot film Rajni Ki Baraat — crack in his hometown of Darbhanga, Bihar—says that stories go down and crack in the Hindi heartland are connecting well with audiences and are currently in trend.​“The storytelling mode has changed. Either you are in the Dhurandhar (2025), Animal (2024), or (director) SS Rajamouli ‘zone’, or you are in a very realistic story setting. Now, very few movies take the middle path. Not everyone can make big-budget films, so realistic films in real locations are being made. That’s the reason films are being set and shot in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Uttarakhand, and Jharkhand. People connect with the Hindi belt and the Ganga basin,” says Aditya during his recent visit to Lucknow.​He notes that in real locations, beauty emerges naturally. “My entire film was shot in Darbhanga. It is probably the first movie in Mithilanchal —a region significant as Sitaji’s hometown and the place where Ramji’s gurukul and swayamwar took place. The connection between our story and the modern world is that, in this same setting, a girl leads her own baraat,” says the director. Why Darbhanga?​On why he chose to shoot there, he says, “Real locations and real people were requirements of the story; no sets were created. I want to show a different side of the region, as the portrayal of Bihar in cinema hasn't always been accurate. I want to show how beautiful the landscape and the locals are. Inspired by the Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh models, the Bihar Government introduced its film policy in 2025, opening the door for filmmakers to shoot here.”​The film’s protagonist, Ulka Gupta, also has roots in Bihar. “Most of the other actors, barring a few, are from the region. I had read Subhash Chandra’s story Had Kardi Aapne, where a character decides to lead her own baraat. Then I read a news article about Vaishali where a girl took her baraat in 2010 and brought her husband to her home. We talk a lot about patriarchy, but this is a real example of gender equality where a girl takes the reins,” says Aditya.UP on mind!​UP was also on his mind. “I went to Varanasi to explore shooting there, as my elder brother and other relatives live there. I tried setting the film there, but I decided my story needed a different culture and world, so I dropped the idea,” says the director​Starting his journey in media, he gradually transitioned toward films. “I started as an executive producer for the feature film Bhor (2021), directed by Kamakhya Narayan Singh in Nalanda. Then I assisted on film Alakh, shot in Noida, and now my first independent movie as a writer-director,” he says.​Inspired by the success of projects like Panchayat and Gullak, he is hopeful about his film. “Indie films have always worked. For me it’s an art while for producers it’s business. All I care about is the art... And if it works, it is all the better. Of course, I want it to work commercially as that will help me help me scale up my next film,” he adds.​He has several stories in development. “There is a story based in Uttar Pradesh that I want to set in small towns like Chandauli; I have already done a recce. Let’s see what starts first,” he says, signing off.