No 'Satyagraha' for team Anna

Prakash Jha is on a collision course with Anna Hazare’s supporters. The speculation that Prakash Jha’s new film Satyagraha is based on Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption movement and that Amitabh Bachchan plays Anna Hazare while Ajay Devgn dons Arvind Kejrilwal’s role, is gathering momentum.

The latest on this front is that Team Anna has asked Prakash to show them the film.

However, in what could be considered a defiant development, the director refuses to show the film to them.

The intrepid filmmaker, known to take on political dissenters during the release of his earlier films, says, “They are free to buy tickets and see the film when it releases on August 30. It’s a free country. No one can stop anyone from seeing any film.” Beyond that Prakash refuses to be sucked into any debate on whom the film is modelled on.

“Characters in Satyagraha are not modelled on Anna Hazare and Arvind Kejriwal. People are free to speculate. During Raajneeti there was widespread speculation that I had made a film on Rajiv and Sonia Gandhi. I know there is a suspicion among Anna Hazare’s supporters that I’ve made a film on him. My film is about a jihad against corruption. But it is not based on any one particular character or campaign.”

He then quips, “Just as democracy is our birthright, films about cleansing the democratic process are every filmmaker’s birthright. Every film about fighting corruption has its own logistics.”