Director Prakash Jha was quite disappointed with the unpleasant incident. Reportedly, Prakash Jha Productions had taken the land on rent from Minal Residency Group, and was unaware that the leased land was a disputed property.

Conversing about the incident with Mumbai Mirror, Jha said, "We had no idea that the land where we had constructed our set was disputed. But, I do feel that even though the demolition had to go through, the authorities knew we had constructed only temporary structures for the purpose of shooting.

“So why demolish it? It would have been dismantled within a month. Everyone in Bhopal knew it was a set.”

Demolition disrupts film’s schedule
The destruction of the ‘Aarakshan’ set in Bhopal has disrupted the film’s schedule. Certain segments in the film were yet to shot by lead actors, Deepika Padukone and Saif Ali Khan, in the bungalow, built on the disputed land.

Spread over an area of an acre and a half, the set of ‘Aarakshan’ included a bungalow and an informal school. In the film, the bungalow is owned by Amitabh Bachchan.

The ‘Raajneeti’ famed director said, “The demolition has definitely upset our plans. We had left the set standing because there were a couple of scenes with Saif and Deepika, remained to be shot. Now we have to work out alternative arrangements.”

It was illegal structure, says authorities
The civil authorities, who destroyed the set of ‘Aarakshan,’ claimed the set as illegal.

"It was an illegal structure, so it was demolished. The high court had directed us to demolish the structure. We did what we were supposed to,” said the Additional District Magistrate of Bhopal Rajnish Shrivastava.

“The construction on that area was not legal.”

About ‘Aarakshan’
Based on caste based reservation in government offices and educational institutions, ‘Aarakshan’ features Saif Ali Khan, Deepika Padukone, Amitabh Bachchan, Prateik Babbar and Manoj Bajpai as main leads.

The film, mostly shot in Bhopal, is slated to release on Aug. 12, 2011.