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As he likes it
RANA SIDDIQUI
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Seasoned filmmaker Prakash Jha on his forthcoming film “Dil Dosti etc.” and why his films are the way they are.
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A confident Manish walked into my office with the script of ‘Dil Dosti etc’. It was just three pages but I refused to read it. One day, I read it unwillingly but found it extremely refreshing and true to life.
Photo: Anu Pushkarna
The non-conformist Prakash Jha.
He may have made a sensitive but masala flick like “Dil Kya Kare” yet he is more identified with issue-based films like “Damul”, “Gangaajal” and “Apaharan”. You have got it right. We are talking about P
rakash Jha, the maverick director who has earned a reputation as almost a lone crusader for the cause of the society at large — especially with reference to Bihar, his home state.
Almost two years after “Apaharan”, Jha is again ready with another film which is a reflection of an important part of our society — the adolescents.
Called “Dil Dosti etc.,” the film, releasing shortly, has Jha as its producer. Manish Tiwary is the storywriter and director.
However, it took some persuasion before Jha took up the production. He was already working on “Rajneeti”, his directorial take on democratic India, and says he wasn’t interested in involving himself in a new film. A “lack of fresh ideas” dissuaded him from taking up new ventures. “But,” he explains, “a very confident Manish walked into my office and asked me to read the script of ‘Dil Dosti etc’. It was just three pages but I refused to read it. I even dissuaded him but he left the script in my office. It kept lying there for some days. One day, I read it unwillingly but found it extremely refreshing, innocent and true to life. It was capable of getting into the minds of the college-going teenagers. How they interpret freedom, what is love and morality for them, how sexuality is on their mind all the time, how they think possibilities are endless for them and so on. I decided to produce it and called him to go ahead with it.” .
Finding fault?
After making a film like “Damul” at the beginning of his career, Jha was typed as a ‘brooding filmmaker’ always finding fault with the system and choosing to ignore the lighter side of life. Jha laughs at it but admits, “It is right that I can’t keep on looking at my face in the mirror. I have to look at other faces also.”
"Gangaajal"
He continues, “Apart from taking into account the grim face of the society I had to be open to the new and valid things coming into it. So I welcomed films like ‘Pran Jaye…’ People can’t blame me. My forthcoming film, ‘Khoya Khoya Chand’ is a beautiful romance based on the ’70s.”
Jha feels people will have to look at his films in relation to his experiences and the society he lives in. “How can you detach yourself from the society you live in?” he questions. And unlike many other filmmakers Jha isn’t the one who thinks making issue-based films and thus putting forth his own concern about the society means he has done his job — either as a concerned citizen or as a filmmaker.
He goes much further to make sure if he could do something pragmatic for the society at large. With the same desire in mind, Jha says he contested the Lok Sabha elections in 2004 from Champaran in Bihar but lost. But that didn’t douse his spirit to contribute to the society or to fight elections for that matter. He says vehemently, “I will contest elections again.”
For all
And for the society, Jha says he is investing his own money in several projects for the welfare of Champaran and many other places that need immediate attention.
These include entertainment centres, agro-based industries, human resource institutions, etc. He also has the support of a “few likeminded people who believe” in him and his dreams.
And of course, filmmaking for him is a constant to which he returns again and again. In “Rajneeti”, he is going to be harsh on the Indian polity, judiciary, bureaucracy and more.
He asserts, “This will be my take on the so-called largest democracy in the world — India. How it ‘runs’ as a democracy. How it adopts exploitative methods of ‘ruling’ people and still calls itself ‘loktantra’.”
Not that he gets a positive response for all his films from people. He admits, “It doesn’t always have an impact. But that doesn’t mean I wash my hands of things that are close to my heart or stop living in the society.”
"Dil Dosti"
With a laugh, Jha adds, “I could have easily done what other ‘good Bihari boys’ are supposed to do — become an IAS officer.” And many know how he chose to leave home in 1972 to join FTII and pursue his dream of “making some change” within his capacity despite pressure from his family to pursue another course. He recalls wistfully, “I told them (parents) I am going to do what I want.”
Also, many might know that while making “Apaharan” and a few other politically-charged films, Jha had received threatening calls asking him to change certain scenes or else face dire consequences. But Jha remained unabashed. “Darne se hi to dar hota hai na?” (Fear begets fear, doesn’t it?) he says with a smile.
Well, who knows it better than him?
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Friday Review
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
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