Lights, action and a whole lot of medieval chaos, Dev Patel is wrapping up his most ambitious project yet, and Mumbai is right at the centre of it. As The Peasant moves into its final schedule, Film City
has transformed into a sprawling 14th-century world, complete with fortress walls, crowded lanes and battle-ready crowds.
According to reports, production on The Peasant is currently in its last leg, with a massive feudal settlement set being constructed at Film City in Goregaon. The period action drama, set in the 14th century, recently wrapped up an intensive month-long shoot in Madhya Pradesh before shifting base to Mumbai. Dev Patel, who stars in, co-writes and directs the film, is expected to begin filming the Mumbai schedule in the second week of February.
Mid-Day reports that filming began on December 1, with the team focusing first on building the film’s visual world. Elaborate period sets were erected at Film City, where large-scale crowd sequences were shot early on. Patel reportedly filmed his portions between December 15 and 20. The newly built set has been designed as a dense feudal settlement, featuring narrow alleyways, market-style courtyards and a fortress structure attached to the main layout.
The scale of the set is meant to support complex action and crowd-heavy scenes. A unit hand told the publication, “You’re looking at hundreds of performers in costume, plus stunt teams working in close quarters. The set has to facilitate that. They had earlier done a rough shoot here, but this is the major leg.”
The Peasant is described as a revenge-driven action drama that follows an Indian shepherd who rises against mercenary knights after his village is destroyed. Interestingly, the project was initially conceived as a revenge thriller set in Italy, before Patel reworked it into a story rooted in Indian history.
Production operations in India are being managed by India Take One Productions, the same company that was involved in Patel’s breakout film Slumdog Millionaire. After a brief break during Christmas and New Year, the unit regrouped on January 6, with the final schedule expected to continue until the end of March.
Dev Patel first gained global recognition with Slumdog Millionaire (2008) and went on to earn an Oscar nomination for Lion (2016). His filmography also includes The Green Knight, while Monkey Man marked his directorial debut, with Patel also headlining the film.
