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‌Well behaved and soft spoken, Jeevan Singh Bisht took the lead in the production of the regional film at such times when the technology was not so rich as today, neither there were any promotional policies prescribed by the Uttar Pradesh government for regional cinema. Jeevan Singh Bisht, who was a bank employee then thought of making a feature film in his mother tongue Kumaoni.

Early Life

‌Jeevan Singh Bisht was born on 30th May 1950, to Nainsingh and Bachuli Devi, in the village Lvalee of Salam Patti of Almora district. Nainsingh was in the army, that is why he wanted to see his son in the army too. But Jeevan Singh Bisht was born with some other purpose for life. During his schooling, he was attracted to the theater and used to participate in cultural programs. Because of his interest in theaters, he did not join the army and after his graduation, he started working in the State Bank of India. Jeevan Singh Bisht was unable to find his happiness even in the banking job and thus, in 1986, he have resignation and chose the path of regional film production. Later, he produced and directed telefilms and documentaries for Doordarshan.

Film Career

‌Before Megha Aa, the first film of garhwali "Jagwal" was released in 1983 and it recorded a new history in the box office. After that, the second Garhwali film "Gharjaivan" and the third film "Kabi Sukh, Kabi Dukh" were released. Then, in the young minds of a man working in the bank, Jeevan Singh Bisht, the idea of making a Kumaoni film took place. To make his dream come true, he took advice from some of his friends. The chief of which was a theater artist, Rajesh Herbola, a resident of haldwani, and Ninder Bhatt, the founder of Beer Shiva Public School. These people promised to give him full support in his film production. Many rich people from the mountains were contacted to invest their money in the film, but no one extended their hands for help. Everyone wanted a guarantee that their money invested in the film will not sink and the film will surely earn. But the question here was how could some guarantee about the first film to be made in Kumaoni?

‌In such a situation, Bisht decided not to spread his hands in front of anyone. His passion of making a film in his mother tongue was so high that he decided to take a loan from the bank. In 1987, he released his first Kumaoni feature film, "Megha Aa". In the film, Rajesh Herbola, N.N.D Bhatt, Rajendra Prasad Tripathi etc. played prominent roles, whereas the hero was Mukesh Dhasmana and the heroine was Sapna Awasthi, and the story writer and lyricist of the film was Mr. Rajendra Bora. Bisht had to face many difficulties in the making of the film, but he did not give up. Seeing his passion, most of the actors acted in the movie without charging a single penny from him for the film.

‌Even after the film's performance, not even a single cinema hall was willing to show the film in Uttarakhand. Balwant Singh Chufal, founder president of the Parvatiye Sanskriti Uththan Manch supported and helped him for this, and on his say the owner of Lakshmi Talkies, Haldwani agreed to release the film in his theater. After that, the "Megha Aa" was released in other cities of Kumaon as well.

Awards

‌A few days before his death, Jeevan Singh Bisht had completed the production of his film "Jai Shri Rajwanshi Goludev". Jeevan Singh Bisht, during his life span, remained associated with film production and direction of regional Kumaoni films. He was awarded the "Life Time Achievement Award" in Delhi, for his contribution in the field of regional film production.

Death

‌Jeevan Singh Bisht died on 8th January 2016.