Till recently, he was the man calling the shots from behind the camera. Having churned out box-office hits like Hip Hip Hurrey, Damul, Mrityudand, Gangajal and Apaharan, the noted writer, producer and director Prakash Jha has now donned a new role of an entrepreneur. The low-profile film-maker is now busy with his next production: white crystal sugar, as he has set up a multi-crore sugar complex in the interiors of his home State, Bihar. For a while, his forthcoming movies have taken a back seat, as Mr Jha is also mulling over the proposal to set up multiplexes and shopping malls in the heart of Patna and Hajipur. Though the ace director does not approve of being called ‘Prakash Jha ban gaya businessman’, still his foray into construction of roads, generation of power and setting up hospitals, provides the clearest evidence that the film-maker is on a different trajectory altogether.
“It’s all the same, whether you are into films or business,” insists Mr Jha, clarifying that he has not bid adieu to the Bollywood and will be coming up shortly with his another power-packed movie Rajniti, which features his all-time favourite actor Ajay Devgan. "Once my business plans are in place, I will be back to film-making," the soft-spoken Mr Jha says, putting to rest all speculations of his quitting Hindi cinema.
Pained and anguished over being dragged into legal wrangles while trying to establish his business ventures in Bihar, Prakash Jha, in a wide ranging conversation with Abhay Kumar of Deccan Herald, tells how rough his road to success had been. Excerpts:
Deccan Herald: The buzz is that you are planning to become a full-time businessman. Why so, when all your recent movies had set the cash registers ringing?
Prakash Jha: Who says I am going to quit film-making? I always come up with one movie every two years. And my forthcoming venture Rajniti, starring Ajay Devgan and Nana Patekar will, most probably, hit the screens in 2008.
DH: But, of late, you are seen more in Bihar than in Mumbai?
PJ: That’s precisely because my firm P & M Infrastructure Limited is engaged in setting up a multi-crore sugar complex in Bihar which will be the first private investment in sugar sector in Bihar since Independence.
DH: At a time when there is a growing unrest among villagers all over the country over forcible acquisition of land, how could you manage a vast chunk of fertile 75 acre-land?
PJ: Let me clarify that there was no forcible acquisition of land. Around 350 landowners formed a committee, evaluated their property and struck the best possible deal with me. The Bihar Government had no role to play in this treaty.
DH: But the grapevine is that all this was possible because of your proximity with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar?
PJ: Utter nonsense. All those who are spreading the canards are just not interested in the development of Bihar.
They should know that Prakash Jha is made up of a different mettle. He won’t be cowed down by such elements with vested interests. I decided to invest in Bihar simply because the investment climate here had changed drastically, besides there was remarkable improvement on the law and order front. But still I have to face enormous resistance from leaders of different political shades, whom I shall continue to fight legally, socially and politically.
DH: But you can’t hide your soft-corner for Nitish Kumar.
PJ: He is a visionary man, with good intentions, and genuinely wants to put Bihar back on the path of development. So what’s wrong if, at times, I say a few good things about the person who faces the onerous task of pulling Bihar out of morass.
DH: You are also said to be planning to shape up ‘Bipasa’ (Bi: bijli, Pa: Pani, Sa: Sadak).
PJ: (Smiles) My construction company will venture into all this. But right now, we intend to produce 16 MW of power from the Maurya Sugar Mill. The surplus power will be purchased by the Bihar State Electricity Board, with which we will sign a power purchase agreement. The sugar complex will also produce ethanol, which will be used as additives in petroleum products.
DH: Your plan to set up shopping mall and multiplexes in Patna has been mired into legal wrangles…
PJ: (Iinterrupts) When you make the first move, such hindrances are bound to occur. But I am not going to run away. Bihar ka hoon, aur yahin rahoonga.
DH: But then, having spread your tentacles so far and wide, how do you cope up?
PJ: Whether you are into film making or business, there is 10 per cent creativity and 90 per cent management.
All you need to do is to utilise your time and energy in an optimum way.
DH: Lastly, in this age of sequels being made, be it Devdas, Don or Dhoom, do you intend to make Apaharan-II some day?
PJ: Never. One is enough.