‘Damul’ to ‘Apharan,’ a political journey of Bihar: Jha
(No Ratings Yet)Think of Prakash Jha and a image that invariably comes to mind is that of a filmmaker whose films over the years have depicted social and political turmoil in Bihar.
In fact, his last film ‘Apharan’, which fetched for Prakash Jha and Manoj Tyagi the National Award for Best Screenplay 2005, dealt with the kidnapping mafia in Bihar.
For Prakash Jha, however, his films over the years from ‘Damul’ in the 70s, ‘Mrityudand’ in the 80s and ‘Gangajal’ and ‘Apharan’ in the new millennium, have been attempts to look at the new equations in society in course of its changing face with the passage of time.
”My films have always tried to look at and underline the new equations in society that have come about with its changing face over the years. In fact, ‘Damul’ to ‘Mrityudand’ to ‘Gangajal’ to Apharan’ is the political journey of Bihar over the last three decades,” Prakash Jha told UNI in an interview here.
Refusing to bracket his films under a particular category, the filmmaker said,”I do not believe in putting films into any particular category. For example, a film like ‘Gangajal’ is not just a crime thriller, rather it is a portrayal of the progression of society in the post market economy and post-mandalisation phase.” ”Gangajal is a depiction of how, over the years, crime has become institutionalised. Earlier only criminals indulged in crime.
Now everyone is committing crimes. Also, it shows one Yadav killing another Yadav, something which was not the case in ‘Damul’ or ‘Mrityudand,” Mr Jha added.
He may have moved on from parallel cinema, as exemplified in ‘Damul’ to commercial mainstream cinema with ‘Mrityudand’ followed by ‘Gangajal’ and ‘Apharan’ but the characters of his films remain connected to the real life.
”In the 80s when I decided that it was no longer commercially viable to make films without stars, I made ‘Mrityudand’ and cast Madhuri Dixit along with Shabana Azmi and even put some songs.
However, a close look at both ‘Damul’ and ‘Mrityudand’ would reveal that characters like Tilpat Singh of Mrityudand’ is not vastly different from, Mangal Pandey in ‘Damul’. The only difference is that while Mangal Pandey was aristocratic, Tilpat Singh is neo aristocratic,”Jha said.
However, be it art or mainstream, his films have never been loss making propositions.
”My films have all earned a profit for me. ‘Mrityudand’ was made at a cost of Rs 1.5 crore and earned Rs 5 crore while ‘Gangajal’, costed Rs 8 crore, earned nearly Rs 20 crore. Also, ‘Apharan’, made at a budget of Rs 12 crore, had fetched me Rs 22 crore even before release.
Encouraged by the well response to his realistic films and the success of comedy films like ‘Bheja Fry’ and ‘Khosla Ka Ghosla’, Prakash Jha has now decided to make his foray as a producer with ‘Dil Dosti etc’, a film dealing with the dilemmas faced by today’s youth.
Mr Jha said ”Dil Dosti etc’ is a candid and realistic tale of an individual’s sudden entry from adolescence to youth when one experiences a new kind of freedom; the freedom to do anything one wants or has ever wanted to do.” ‘Dil Dosti etc’ sets against the backdrop of many worlds of the cityscape in Delhi, delves into the ambiguity of today’s youth. It deals with desire, sexuality, trust, betrayal, ambition and much more.
— UNI
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