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GangaaJal for box office salvation
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This monsoon has brought glad tidings for Prakash Jha. With "GangaaJal", he is ready to soak in the joy of success, says ANUJ KUMAR... .
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FISHING IN TROUBLED WATERS: Prakash Jha putting together "Gangaajal"
FINALLY LIGHT is back in action in Prakash's life with "GangaaJal" passing the crucial acid test of first-day, first-show but a flicker of uncertainty is still intact as his home State has yet to bathe in his creativity thanks to his character Sadhu Yadav.
Sitting at New Delhi's Film Division Auditorium, he asserts, "People have reacted even before watching the film. Yes, the character of Sadhu Yadav is based on a real life character, as is the case with most of my characters. I met this man in a lock-up of Kankatiaganj in Bihar some 15 years back and since then he is in my script. He was Sadhu by name but impious in deeds. It is true with the character Sunder Yadav, son of Sadhu as well, who unlike his name commits all the ugly deeds. So to say that I have sketched it on a political personality is far fetched and just a figment of imagination." His mobile refuses to stop buzzing with reports of bumper initials and copious protests in Bihar.
Why a police theme that has already been done in myriad modes from "Gunga Jamuna" to "Ardha Satya" to "Shool"?
"I wanted to make this film after `Damul' but somehow I could not. In the meantime, the subject kept growing on me with Bhagalpur blindings and other cases where the role of police in the society came under discussion adding to the factual part. As far as treatment is concerned my protagonist doesn't go over the top to earn justice. Neither he has some troubled childhood. He is a normal police officer who wants to cleanse the system without stepping out of it. Aatank se atank ko khatm nahin kar sakte." And perhaps that is why he zeroed in on Ajay, the new master of underplay. "Yes, but more than that his sincerity towards work and new challenges."
Prakash may have had the script with him for long but the fact is the twin failure of his dalliance with soft emotions in "Dil Kya Kare" and "Rahul" forced him to bring it out of the closet and return to his home territory not only in terms of location but vocation as well.
"No, this is not the real reason. As I am a creative person, I just wanted to experiment with other subjects. They may have failed commercially, but in future whenever, I will get a different idea I will definitely give it shape. Just because that `Damul' and `Mrityudand' were successful people can't put me in a particular slot."
But what happened to the parallel cinema movement with almost all the leading lights having made a neat switchover to huge budgets and even item numbers. "GangaaJal" has a budget of Rs.7 crores and after burning fingers with Isha Koppikar's forgettable item number in "Rahul", Jha has once again fallen to the commercial charms in the latest with an ill-conceived rural sizzler. Prakash shoots, "`GangaaJal' is the new parallel cinema. See, we have to look at the market. And the trend is to mix the content and message with the popular style. And with cut in the subsidies and official neglect this was waiting to happen."
Controversies can wait. As of now, Prakash wants to switch off and enjoy a shower of "GangaaJal".
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