My Intention Wasn’t To Hurt Hindu Sentiments: Prakash Jha On Aashram Controversy

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“Please emphasise that as far as I am concerned, Aashram is the story of a criminal,” Prakash Jha lays out a disclaimer that his upcoming web series is neither based in reality, nor does it intend to hurt any religious sentiments. The trailer of the Bobby Deol-led series, which is about people’s blind faith in godmen, has already gotten audience drawing real-life references.

This, however, is not new for Jha, whose films have always raked up debates and controversies for similarities with various social-political events in the country.

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As Aashram gears up to stream on MX Player from this Friday, Prakash Jha talks to indianexpress.com about making his web series debut, navigating through consistent opposition to his films and why all artistes end up becoming negotiators.

It took some time. I was a bit stressed initially. The story was brought to me by the platform (MX Player). I liked its concept and structure. Then I started working with the writers. It grew from there. Everybody is thinking that it’s based on this baba or that godman, but there’s nothing like that. Aashram is actually the story of people’s faith.
Because our spiritualism is so rich we usually kind of begin to believe in things. And then someone, who has nothing to do with spirituality or faith, jumps in. Basically criminals masquerading as godmen. They exploit people. So, this is not a story of any baba but a criminal. It is not about Hinduism, Islam or Christianity. It’s about people going after such things. This guy is not from any religion because religion is something, which uplifts us.
Hinduism is great. There’s a disclaimer that we respect all religions and gurus, but this story is about its aberration. Like in our villages, we have quacks who masquerade as doctors and give wrong medication to people. But people still queue up to consult them. So, this is what it is.
Source: India Today

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