Prakash Jha made his debut as a documentary filmmaker with Shree Vats in 1982, followed by a
cheerful children’s film Hip Hip Hurray in 1984. In 1986, he shot into headlines with his award winning Damul and a decade later became a name to reckon with after Mrityudand.
Jha found his identity with Gangajal and has since then been making politically charged films like Apharan, Rajneeti, Arakshan and Satyagrah. Prakash Jha’s Jai Gangaajal releases in a few days but the director is as cool as a cucumber when I meet him for this interview.
Q: Are you usually so relaxed
before a release or is this time an exception?
Prakash Jha: (Laughs) I don’t know, but I’m not feeling tense. I’m feeling
happy, my heart is singing.
Q: That means you are
thoroughly satisfied with the film.
Prakash Jha: Satisfied I am, if I wasn’t I would be struggling at the post
production. What is more important is that the audience should feel satisfied.
As a filmmaker I can do my best, after that the film is determined by the
audience.
Q: All directors say that but
is it that simple to be detached?
Prakash Jha: I can’t speak for others but I like to move on. If I continue to be
with this one how will I make my next film? In my head I’m already planning the
next one.
Q: So it is party time for you
now?
Prakash Jha:
Ha ha, nobody invites me to parties because everyone thinks I’m boring and if by mistake somebody does, the party halts as soon as I arrive. My music director Salim Merchant is giving me a make-over though, he is training me to become a seasonal party animal.
Q: That’s a super idea, you have always
been adventurous and unpredictable.
Prakash Jha: My family says that. I joined Delhi University to study Physics
and ran away from there to Mumbai and enrolled myself in the JJ School of Arts.
While I was there I decided I wanted to make movies and started shooting
documentaries.
Q. Why do you only make political films, are you not attracted to other genres?
Prakash Jha: My production house has made other genre of films too but politics is my calling. Growing up in Bihar, politics is part of life, which is why for me politics and cinema is the same thing.
I read something in the newspapers; it bothers me so I translate my anguish into a film with human drama. A leader communicates from a platform, I express from the big screen.
Q: You made Mrityudand about women’s empowerment with
Shabana Azmi and Madhuri Dixit and then moved to action films with Ajay Devgn.
Prakash Jha: (Laughs) both are about
politics. Shooting Mrityudand with Om
Puri, Shabanaji, Madhuri and Shilpa Shirodkar was a sublime experience. We were
camped in Wahi and the atmosphere at work was so stimulating.
Shabanaji is a director’s delight; she works hard on her character and has a fund of questions for her directors. She kept me on my toes. It is nice to be challenged by your actors.
Q: You gave a change of image
to stars like Saif Ali Khan, Katrina Kaif and Deepika Padukone, was there
resistance initially?
Prakash Jha: It is difficult to imagine Saif Ali Khan in the role I cast him in Arakshan, the same with Katrina Kaif, she was surprised I wanted her for Rajneeti. Deepika was the right choice as Amitabh Bachchan’s daughter in Satyagraha and she was ready for the change.
Q: When you announced the sequel
to Gangajal everybody expected it to
star Ajay Devgn but you surprised us again. Why did you choose Priyanka
Chopra?
Prakash Jha: The script was written with a female protagonist - Abha Mathur who
is the first female SP of Bankipur district, Bihar and who fights
against the local MLA. Priyanka fits the part and sometimes roles
become an actor’s destiny.
We had started training Priyanka while she was shooting Bajirao Mastani and the plan was to roll as soon as she wrapped up but then Quantico happened and everything was put on hold. Sometimes, circumstances are beyond your control because destiny wants it that way.
Q: Crowds form a major part of
all your films and it is said you manage these scenes single-handedly.
Prakash Jha: No, no, if I give that impression then the credit goes to the leaders
of the crowd association who communicate clearly with their groups and
facilitate me to shoot difficult scenes on time. But yes, I enjoy shooting the crowd scenes…
Q: What about the party scenes?
Prakash Jha: I’ll soon love them too and make sure my films have many party
scenes because by then Salim Merchant will have mastered me in the art ( laughs).
(Bhawana Somaaya has been writing on cinema for 30 years and is the author of 12 books.)
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