Prakash Jha addresses controversies around Aashram: ‘Once people watch the show, they will realise there’s nothing to worry about’

Director Prakash Jha has addressed the controversies surrounding his next web show, Aashram, that takes a deep and incisive look at blind faith and how some self-styled exploitative godmen take advantage of it. The filmmaker says this criticism is not a new phenomenon and he has faced it in the past too.

“It always happens with all my work, before it gets released, someone will go to court, governments will ban my films and people are concerned. But once the film releases, everything is quiet and that is going to happen this time too,” says the filmmaker in an interview to Hindustan Times, saying ‘once people watch the show, they will find out there is nothing to worry about’.

Asked if he is concerned how the environment has changed and films such as Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl and Sadak 2 are being judged for reasons beyond their merit, the filmmaker said, “I think the world remains the same and people have now received a medium to express themselves, social media has given them a voice. The sane voices will behave in a certain way and people who are used to a rough way to express themselves will do exactly that. Sometimes it is done deliberately, to quieten people who get scared. Fortunately for me, I am not on social media. I have a Twitter account and someone else manages it and is used if only there is something to be communicated. I get most of the information I need through news channels and even they are mostly fake. I instead prefer positive stories, stories of hope.”

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Prakash’s digital debut series, Aashram, will premiere on August 28 on MX Player. The trailer of the series was unveiled earlier this month and shows Bobby Deol as Baba Nirala of Kashipur. The series also features Chandan Roy Sanyal, Aaditi Pohankar, Darshan Kumaar, and Adhyayan Suman in pivotal roles.

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