“They burnt my effigies…screening was stopped”: Prakash Jha on ‘Gangaajal’ controversy

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India]: National Award-winning director Prakash Jha and controversies go hand in hand. Almost every film by the director-producer has either faced censorship trouble or invited the anger of social groups.

Released in 2003, the Ajay Devgn starrer film ‘Gangaajal’ is one of his films that evoked political ire in Patna at the time of its release.
The film was about a corrupt politician from Bihar named Sadhu Yadav, played by Mohan Joshi. Interestingly, the name of the antagonist was similar to that of then-chief minister Rabri Devi’s brother and a Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MLA. Sadhu’s supporters accused the filmmakers of defaming their leader by using his name as a negative character in the film.

In a recent interview, Prakash Jha talked about the controversy that erupted due to the antagonist’s name in the film.

He said, “It was quite accidental. Sadhu Yadav, the name I don’t know from where it came to my mind. They (protestors) burnt my effigies, the screening of the film was stopped, the film didn’t run in Patna, and the audience had to go to Hajipur to watch the film. They did a lot of things. It happens with every other film of mine.”

However, post the entire row, RJD’s founder and husband of Rabri Devi, Lalu Prasad Yadav met Jha and cleared that there was nothing objectionable in the film.

‘Gangaajal’ also starred Gracy Singh, Mukesh Tiwari, Daya Shankar Pandey and Yashpal Sharma in pivotal roles.

The film did well at the box office and was honoured with the National Film Award for Best Film on other social issues.

A sequel titled ‘Jai Gangaajal’ starring Priyanka Chopra was released in 2016 which under-performed, both commercially and critically.
Other than ‘Gangaajal’, Prakash Jha is known for his films like ‘Mrityudand’, ‘Aarakshan’, ‘Raajneeti’ and the web series ‘Aashram’.