Over 1000 km north from Mumbai, a love story is causing a rebellion, albeit on screen. Quintessentially, Bollywood has been the stable of romances of all kinds for a huge part of the Indian audience. But it seems like the intimate, largely overlooked film industry of Jharkhand has delivered a story of love that its people can call their own: Sereng, a film in the Nagpuri language. But the rousing success of the feature is significant not only because it’s a huge win for the local cinema, but also because it’s political and defiant, something mainstream Hindi cinema has strictly stayed away from, lest it receives the wrath of the country’s volatile political climate.

“We are planning to arrange select shows in Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Goa,” director NPK Purshotam tells Sunday mid-day over a phone call. Sereng, which stars Vivek Nayak and Shweta Prajapati, registered the biggest ever opening week collection — Rs 10 lakh — for a film from the Jharkhand industry. Released on May 8, the film has so far amassed Rs 25 lakh. It isn’t that the film industry hasn’t seen such acclaim before. In fact, the 2024 Hindi-Kurukh film Humans of Loop earned a terrific response internationally, so much so that it entered the Oscars 2025 race in the best original screenplay category.