Prakash Jha commenced this conversation by asking if the rains had hit Calcutta as hard as Mumbai and ended it by wanting to know what fish I had for lunch. In between, we chatted about his web series Aashram that stars Bobby Deol as a god-man and streams on MX Player from this Friday.
What made you want to make Aashram?
The story came to me and I found it very interesting because it wasn’t the story of a fake god-man, it’s the story of the common man. It shows how the common man invests so much belief in people who can’t be trusted at all. Like in the village, so many people have blind faith on quacks, knowing that they are not doctors. Patients queue up in front of him just because he probably knows the names of four medicines. So are these god-men, jo kapde pehen ke baba bann jaate hain. Once a handful of people start believing in them, then the whole world starts flocking to them. We have had enlightened and educated religious teachers... Ramakrishna Paramhansa, Swami Vivekananda... who spent their lives in the single-minded pursuit of truth and knowledge. We respect them, we worship them. But there have also been a lot of con men. I liked this take on this subject.
You mentioned about quacks in villages, but blind faith is not limited to just rural India...
It’s more in urban areas, I feel. Those who are less educated have less options to have blind faith on (laughs). Those who are educated and also wealthy are insecure and they look for ways and means to protect that by investing their faith on dubious people and institutions.
What made you cast Bobby Deol as a god-man? He’s a very unlikely choice for the part...
‘Unlikely choice’ is the reason why I signed him. Bobby doesn’t have a set image. He absolutely fits the story and the character and I think I was lucky to get him. He’s a very good actor and he’s done very well in this series.
You issued a disclaimer saying that this series doesn’t look at hurting any sentiments. Given that you claim that the series focuses more on the common man than on a god-man, was the environment of knee-jerk outrage we find ourselves in the reason for the disclaimer?
The disclaimer was issued to acknowledge my religion and my spiritual world and my gurus who have been a source of knowledge and enlightenment to me. I have not made this to bring them into any kind of disrepute. In fact, I am making these on the people who bring their name into disrepute. It was important for me to issue this disclaimer because it’s a sensitive subject and I do want to work from a place of responsibility, and that’s what I have done.
What has it been like working on the web? Has it been liberating?
I just look at it as another medium to express. It’s definitely been a different experience. In films, there are limited stories and limited hours in which to tell them. Whether I do a film or a web series, the responsibility is not going to go away. Honestly, even making a film can be a liberating experience if the story has remained with you and you are finally able to share it.
The web is a great medium, but every film-maker wants to show his film on the big screen. I made Pareeksha (that had a digital release a few weeks ago on Zee5) for a theatrical release, but the present time and the compulsions that we are living under dictated that we had to release it on the web. But I am happy we did it, because web has the advantage of a film being made available to the audience in a far easier way than a theatrical release and at a much lesser cost. There are no problems like, ‘Cinema nahin mila, screen nahin mila, publicity nahin hui’....
Honestly, I concentrate only on what I am currently working on, instead of dwelling on the past or comparing mediums. I have made so many films over so many decades, but if you ask me about any of them, I can’t remember (laughs). Many a time so many fellow film-makers as well as critics meet me and tell me, ‘Aapne iss film mein aisa kiya tha’. Aur main hairaan hoke sochta hoon, ‘Acha, maine aisa kiya tha kya?’ (Laughs) I learn a lot from what I make. But once that learning is done, I move on to the next. Mera soch hamesha rehta hain ki aagey badho.
Pareeksha and Aashram were, of course, shot before the lockdown. But how have the last few months been for you creatively?
I was constantly working, doing the post-production of Aashram. It was a huge task and the pandemic wasn’t making things easier. We were negotiating and trying to make people work on post-production... editing, sound, music, DI, VFX.... Coordination was very important, but we managed to do it and fortunately release it now. I also worked on some scripts. I start a feature film early next year, so I have also been prepping for that. For me, it’s been a normal time, no problem at all.
