Prakash Jha
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| Prakash Jha | |
| Born | February 27, 1952 West Champaran, Bihar, India |
|---|---|
| Occupation | producer, director screenwriter |
| Years active | 1976- present |
| Spouse(s) | Deepti Naval (divorced) |
Prakash Jha (Hindi: प्रकाश झा) is an Indian film producer-director-screenwriter, who is most known for his political and socio-political films, Damul (1984), Mrityudand (1997), and Gangaajal 2003. He is also the maker of National Film Award winning documentaries like, Face After Storm (1984) and Sonal (2002).
He now runs a production company, 'Prakash Jha Productions' [1]
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life and education
Prakash Jha was born in 1952 and raised at his family's farm in Shikarpur Narkatiaganj, West Champaran, Bihar, India. He did his schooling from Sainik School Tilaya, Koderma district, (now in Jharkhand)', and later, he joined Ramjas College, Delhi University to do B.Sc (Hons) in Physics; though he left studies after one year [2], and decided to go to Bombay and become a painter, though while he was preparing for J.J. School of Arts, he happen to witness the shooting film Dharma and got hooked on to filmmaking.
Soon he joined the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune in 1973, to do a course in Editing, though midway through it, the institution was closed for while, due to student agitation, so he came to Bombay, and started working, and completed the course in 1976 [3].
[edit] Career
While still midway through his course, he started working on films independently, in 1974 [4], and made his first documentary, 'Under the Blue' in 1975, and continued to do so for next 8 years [2].
During this period he made some highly politically charged documentaries, like the one of 'Bihar Sarif riots', titled, Faces After Storm (1984), which received considerable attention, as it was banned within 4-5 days of its released [3] though later it won the National Film Award for Best Non-Feature Film for the year.
Finally, he made his debut, as a feature film director, Hip Hip Hurray in 1983, scripted by Gulzar and starring, Raj Kiran and Deepti Naval as leads [5]. Next came, the film he received most recognition with, Damul (1984), which won the National Film Award for Best Film and the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Movie in 1985. The film was based on the bonded labour issue in Bihar.
In 1986, he directed, Parinati, based on the story by Vijaydan Detha [6]. Starting late 1980s, he made four TV series, like a 13 part Classical dances from India, and the famous comedy series Mungerilal Ke Haseen Sapne, starring Raghuvir Yadav.
In 1989, he took a sabbatical from films, and moved to Bihar for four years, during period he formed two organizations, Anubhooti, which trained young people from region, in film making, and Samvedan, in Champaran, to promote small and micro industries. His first come back film in his second inning, was Bandish (1996), starring Jackie Shroff and Juhi Chawala, which followed by Mrityudand (1997), starring Madhuri Dixit and Shabana Azmi in lead roles and a story set in his homestate Bihar, and Gangaajal, with Ajay Devgan, this movie was a brain child of Mr. Mahendra Lalka (Retd. IPS), was yet again themed on Bihar, this time on 1980 Bhagalpur blindings. His 2005, Apaharan, starring Ajay Devgan and Bipasha Basu, based on the growing kidnapping industry in Hindi heartland, won him , the Filmfare Best Dialogue Award in 2006 [7].
Over the years he has made over 25 documentaries, nine feature films, two television features and three television series [8]. [7] Many of his films are concerned with highlighting social evil.
Presently, he is making film, Rajiniti, which is a contemporary take on the epic, Mahabharat, starring Vivek Oberoi, Manoj Bajpai and Ranbir Kapoor [9]
His elder brother of Dr. Praveen Jha is a renowned professor of Economics at the much renowned centre for economic studies and planning and author of many books and articles.
[edit] Politics
Prakash Jha fought and lost election to the Lok Sabha from his native Champaran in 2004. He again lost election to the Lok Sabha in 2009 as Lok Janashakti Party candidate from West Champaran.
He was arrested on 22nd April 09, for allegedly distributing money to voters, under sections 171-G (falsestatement in connection with an election), 171-H (illegalpayment in connection with an election) and 171-I (failure tokeep election accounts). [10]
[edit] Personal life
He was married for a time to film actress, Deepti Naval.
[edit] Filmography
- Hip Hip Hurray (1983)
- Damul (1984)
- Parinati (1988) [11]
- Mrityudand (1997)
- Dil Kya Kare (1999)
- Gangaajal (2003)
- Apaharan (2005)
- Rajniti (2009)
[edit] Awards
[edit] National Film Awards
- 1984: National Film Award for Best Non-Feature Film: Face After Storm (1984) [12]
- 1985: National Film Award for Best Film: Damul (1985)
- 1987: National Film Award for Best Arts/Cultural Film: Kudiattam [13]
- 2002: National Film Award for Best Non-Feature Film: Sonal [14]
- 2004: National Film Award for Best Film on Other Social Issues: Gangaajal (2003) [15]
- 2006: National Film Award for Best Screenplay: Apaharan (2005)
[edit] Filmfare Awards
- 1985: Filmfare Critics Award for Best Movie: Damul (1985)
- 2006:Filmfare Best Dialogue Award: Apaharan (2005) [16]
[edit] References
- ^ Prakash Jha Productions website.
- ^ a b Prakash Jha Interview Part I passionforcinema.com.
- ^ a b Prakash Jha The Cinemas of India, by Yves Thoraval. Macmillan India, 2000. ISBN 0333934105, 9780333934104. Page 191-192.
- ^ Interviews Movies, Rediff.com, February 03, 2003.
- ^ Filmmaker sees hope in Bihar Telegraph, December 4, 2005.
- ^ Prakash Jha Interview passionforcinema.com.
- ^ a b Awards at imbd
- ^ About Prakash Jha
- ^ Prakash Jha's Rajniti is a huge multistarrer Subhash K. Jha, www.bollywoodhungama.com, May 8, 2008.
- ^ LJP candidate Prakash Jha arrested
- ^ Filmography New York Times.
- ^ Face After Storm
- ^ Kudiattam
- ^ Sonal
- ^ Gangajal - Awards 'Prakash Jha Productions'.
- ^ Awards Internet Movie Database .
[edit] External links
- Prakash Jha at the Internet Movie Database
- Prakash Jha Productions website
- Interview - Director Prakash Jha at Rediff.com.
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