Rahul Bose's directorial comeback gets a one-of-its-kind promotion as its real-life heroine gears up to unveil the first look at the Mount Kilimanjaro summit in Africa
Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; August 9, 2016)

Mirror (May 23) was the first to report about Rahul Bose's return to direction 15 years after Everybody Says I'm Fine with his first home production, Poorna. Based on the life of Malavath Poorna, the biopic traces the Telangana girl's journey to a world record as she became the world's youngest girl to scale Mount Everest on May 25, 2014. Now, Mirror has learnt that Poorna who is gearing up for her next expedition, to Africa's Mount Kilimanjaro with 17 other girls, will unveil the film's first look at the mountain summit on India's Independence Day.

"We gave her two water-proof posters to carry along. She begins her ascent on August 10 and will unfurl the longest National Flag ever on August 15 at the summit," says an excited Rahul who is busy with the film's post-production at the moment. While Rahul and Poorna's mentor, Dr RS Praveen Kumar, who the actor-filmmaker is playing in the film, won't be able to accompany her, the youngster's trainer, Shekhar Babu, reunites with her after the Everest expedition.

"We are three weeks away from receiving the first copy of the film so I can't think of going anywhere. Also, I would have had to undergo training if I wanted to make the climb," reasons Rahul who is eyeing a November release and will kick off promotions two months in advance with a country-wide campaign where, besides the trailer, he will also showcase actual footage, giving audiences a firsthand experience of the climb.

Poorna was just 13 when she pitched the Indian flag at 6 am, followed by Sadhanapalli Anand, a 17-year-old student from the remote Khammam district, a couple of hours later. Both were students of the Andhra Pradesh Social Welfare Residential Schools and mentored by its secretary, Dr RS Praveen Kumar. Aditi Inamdar, a Telangana girl, was chosen to play Poorna on screen after Rahul auditioned 109 girls.