Prakash Jha is furious after reports that the collections of his latest film, Apaharan, dropped after it was pulled out of some theatres to make way for Yash Raj Films' Neal 'N' Nikki…
Prakash Jha
Are you upset about rumours of Apaharan doing badly?
I am not upset, but saddened by the behaviour of some people in the film industry, who are always trying to manipulate the media and the trade. They are jealous of the success of others.
Apaharan is doing much better than Neal 'N' Nikki or Ek Ajnabee. My film is what the promos indicated — a hard-hitting, issue-based social drama. There is no love angle; Apaharan is not a sex-flick, like Neal 'N' Nikki, yet it's a crowd-puller.
Why do we have to run down the success of others? When Vipul Shah's Waqt became a blockbuster, some people tried to finish it off. Instead of getting together and trying to encourage us when we are doing something different, don't pull us down.
I appreciate the kind of cinema the Bhatts are making — they don't pretend to do anything that preaches a new morality under the package of sleaziness! In Neal 'N' Nikki, you have two almost-naked people sitting about and all but making love on the bed!
Bipasha Basu and Ajay Devgan in Apaharan
Has Yash Raj Films pulling Apaharan out of many theatres led to a drop in collections?
No. Films can't be pulled out of theatres, as releases are well-planned. Each film has its own cinema. Like Apaharan has Eros and Maratha Mandir, where other films can't be booked. There are over 40 theatres in Mumbai, where Apaharan is running today in its second week. There has been no drop in collections; the film is a hit.
People feel Apaharan is grim, dark and slow.
The fact that it's doing so well proves there is an audience for serious cinema. That's encouraging for me, as a filmmaker. People don't want the usual, formula film today.
Some recent films are desperate attempts to exploit sex - and they call it 'new India cinema with a new morality'. What is the moral brigade doing about a film like Neal 'N' Nikki, which has posters depicting only skin and sex? Why only target poor Pooja Bhatt's posters?
Will your next film be Rajniti?
I don't have any other script ready; that is in the advanced stages of scripting, so I might take it up. Though I want to do something a bit different, and not jump into a social issue again.
Is it based on the Mahabharata?
People are assuming that. The Mahabharata is the greatest political drama ever written — it had all kinds of moral and immoral characters, and the dirtiest politics — so one can draw inferences from it. But the script's not based on it. Rajniti is about the people's movement, and what it becomes when it becomes the government — like the Congress, pre-and post-independence, and Jai Prakash Narayan's Janata Party.
Will Ajay Devgan again star in it?
I will always offer Ajay roles in my films, as I feel he does justice to the characters he plays.
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