The eagerly awaited sequel will be shot at Swabhiman Anchal in the Malkangiri area; the production crew has finalised locations and requested security forces’ protection.
With the publication of its first-look poster, the anticipation among fans of Allu Arjun’s next movie Pushpa-2 has reached a new high. Fans in Odisha now have an additional reason to rejoice as the much anticipated sequel would be shot in Swabhiman Anchal, a former stronghold of red rebels in the Malkangiri district.
The landscape of Swabhiman Anchal, which was formerly an isolated place surrounded by water on three sides due to the construction of two significant reservoirs at Machhkund in the 1960s and Balimela in the 1980s, has been scouted by Mythri Movie Makers, a Hyderabad-based film production firm.
The Swabhiman Region, which is about 900 square kilometres in size, used to be off-limits to civil and police administration because of the influence of left-wing extremists in the CPI (MaoistAndhra-Odisha )’s Border zone.
“Our senior production team comprising fight master, associate director and art director is satisfied after seeing the terrain of Swabhiman Anchal. Hantalguda, Saptadhara and Jhulapola are the locations which have been tentatively finalised for shooting of Pushpa-2,” said P. Venketeswar Rao, Production Manager, Mythri Movie Makers.
The Swabhiman Anchal was discovered to be the ideal setting for the Pushpa-2 makers’ search for a spot where a lorry might be shown following a jeep, according to Mr. Rao.
Permission Granted
“We have taken permission from the Malkangiri District Collector and the Superintendent of Police for shooting. We had discussion with the Border Security Force. Everyone was ready to cooperate in the shooting. If everything goes as per plan, the shooting could commence in May,” he said.
The production company estimates that 150 to 200 persons could enter Swabhiman Anchal for filming. The participation of Allu Arjun, the main character in Pushpa-2, in the daytime, under the careful supervision of security personnel, shooting has not yet been confirmed.
The Pushpa-2 creators may have been drawn to Hantalguda’s massive mountain ridges and remote tribal habitats in order to select it as one of the locations. Yet, the area saw the security services’ joint attempts to free Hantalguda from the control of left-wing radicals.
Cooperative Action
From January 8 to January 13, 2020, more than 900 security personnel from the Central Armed Police Forces and the Andhra Pradesh police closely coordinated to launch Operation Swabhiman, the largest counter-LWE operation ever carried out in the State. About the entire area was covered throughout the operation. By cutting through ghats, a 15 km long route from Jantapayi to Jodambo via Hantalguda was constructed with security cover.
The six-day operation was one of the security forces’ minor triumphs over the CPI (Maoist), which had established a type of headquarters for their organisation in the distant Swabhiman Anchal, formerly known as “Cut-Off.”
The area around Cut-Off had a bloody past. 51 security personnel, including 37 members of the Andhra Pradesh Greyhounds, 7 members of the BSF, 4 members of the Odisha Police, and 3 members of the Gram Rakhies, were killed by the Maoists in different events. The Maoists in the vicinity also killed over 50 people.
Kidnapping of the Collector
R. Vineel Krishna, the district collector of Malkangiri at the time, was kidnapped by Maoists on February 16, 2011, as he was visiting the area to oversee development projects. Before his rescue, he was held captive for nine days.
The pivotal moment occurred on July 26, 2018, when Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik dedicated the eagerly anticipated Gurupriya Bridge over the Balimela Reservoir. Swabhiman Anchal was the name Mr. Patnaik gave the area when he dedicated the Gurupriya Bridge. For the improvement of this Maoist stronghold, he had announced special SETU (Socio-economic Transformation and Upliftment) packages worth Rs. 100 crore and another package worth Rs. 115 crore for a massive piped water supply project in the region.
No longer is the Swabhiman Anchal far away. Horses were the area’s primary source of transportation not too long ago. Boats could be used to get to over 150 villages from the Chitrakonda region. Vast tarmac roads, which the Maoists had vehemently opposed, have recently been constructed.
Mr. Krishna recently spent the night in the same location from which he was abducted, 12 years after his kidnapping. Senior police officials told The Hindu that Swabhiman Anchal is devoid of any CPI (Maoist) cadres. Due to the lack of recruitment of new cadres, the Andhra Odisha Border zone is on the verge of closure. It was made feasible by the way the government responded to the ongoing humanitarian crisis by funding development projects and assuring the effectiveness of security forces.
Prasanta Patnaik 
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