Prakash Jha (born 27 February 1952) is an Indian film producer, actor, director and screenwriter, mostly known for his political and socio-political films such as “Hip Hip Hurray” (1984), ''

Damul Damul ( en, italic=yes, Bonded until Death) is a 1985 Hindi film directed by Prakash Jha, based on the story ''Kaalsootra'', by Shaiwal, a native of Gaya district of Bihar., starring Annu Kapoor, Sreela Majumdar, Manohar Singh, Deepti Naval ...

'' (1984), ''

Mrityudand ''Mrityudand'' (English: ''Death Sentence'') is an Indian Hindi drama film released in 1997. It was directed and produced by Prakash Jha and stars Madhuri Dixit, Shabana Azmi, Ayub Khan, Mohan Agashe and Om Puri. The film is a commentary on t ...

'' (1997), ''

Gangaajal ''Gangaajal: The Holy Weapon'' () is a 2003 Indian Hindi-language action crime drama film written, directed, co-produced and edited by Prakash Jha. Featuring an ensemble cast of 87 actors, it revolves around the Superintendent of Police Ami ...

'' (2003), ''

Apaharan ''Apaharan'' (English: ''Abduction'') is a 2005 Indian Hindi-language crime action film directed by Prakash Jha and stars Ajay Devgn, Bipasha Basu and Nana Patekar in the lead roles. It is the story of a complex relationship and clashing ideo ...

'' (2005), including multi-starrer movies like ''

Raajneeti ''Raajneeti'' () is a 2010 Indian Hindi-language political thriller film co-written, directed and produced by Prakash Jha, with a screenplay by Anjum Rajabali and Prakash Jha. The film depicts an archetypal conflict between rival political fam ...

'' (2010), ''

Aarakshan ''Aarakshan'' () is a 2011 Indian Hindi-language drama film starring Amitabh Bachchan, Saif Ali Khan, Manoj Bajpayee, Deepika Padukone, and Prateik Babbar. Directed by Prakash Jha, the film is a socio-political drama based on the controversial p ...

'' (2011) '' Chakravyuh'' (2012), and

Satyagraha Satyagraha ( sa, सत्याग्रह; ''satya'': "truth", ''āgraha'': "insistence" or "holding firmly to"), or "holding firmly to truth",' or "truth force", is a particular form of nonviolent resistance or civil resistance. Someone w ...

(2013),

Dirty Politics ''Dirty Politics: How attack politics is poisoning New Zealand’s political environment'' is a book by Nicky Hager published in August 2014. The book is based on emails hacked from Cameron Slater's Gmail account and on Facebook chats. These c ...

(2015 ). He is also the maker of

National Film Award The National Film Awards is the most prominent film award ceremony in India. Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India and the Indian Panorama, by the Indian government's Directora ...

winning documentaries like, ''Faces After The Storm'' (1984) and ''Sonal'' (2002). He runs a production company, Prakash Jha Productions. He also owns the

P&M Mall P&M Mall is the first mall of Patna, the capital city of the eastern Indian state Bihar. It was opened in April 2011. Film director Prakash Jha & Manmohan Shetty are promoters of the mall. Manish K Jha is Marketing Director of Mall. This mall ...

Patna Patna ( ), historically known as Pataliputra, is the capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Patna had a population of 2.35 million, making it the 19th largest city in India. ...

and the P&M Hi-Tech Mall in

Jamshedpur Jamshedpur (, ) or Tatanagar is the largest and most populous city in Jharkhand and the first planned industrial city in India. It is a Notified Area Council and Municipal Corporation and also the headquarter of the East Singhbhum district. It ...

Biography

Early life and education

Prakash Jha was raised at his family's farm in Barharwa, Bettiah, West Champaran, Bihar, India. His father's name is Shri Tej Nath Jha. He did his schooling from Sainik School Tilaya,

Koderma district Koderma district is one of the twenty-four districts of Jharkhand state, India, and Koderma is the administrative headquarters of this district. Koderma district was created on 10 April 1994, after being carved out of the original Hazaribagh dis ...

and

Kendriya Vidyalaya The Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan () is a system of central government schools in India that are instituted under the aegis of the Ministry of Education, Government of India. , it has a total of 1,248 schools in India, and three abroad in Moscow ...

No. 1, Bokaro Steel City,

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ; ) is a state in eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north and Odisha to the south. It has an area of . It ...

. Later, he joined

Ramjas College Ramjas College is a college of the University of Delhi located in North Campus of the university in New Delhi, India.The college admits both undergraduates and post-graduates, and awards degrees under the purview of the University of Delhi. R ...

Delhi University Delhi University (DU), formally the University of Delhi, is a collegiate university, collegiate Central university (India), central university located in New Delhi, India. It was founded in 1922 by an Act of the Central Legislative Assembly and ...

to do BSc (Hons) in Physics, though he left his studies after one year, and decided to go to Bombay (present-day Mumbai) and become a painter. While he was preparing for J.J. School of Arts, he happened to witness the shooting of the film ''

Dharma Dharma (; sa, धर्म, dharma, ; pi, dhamma, italic=yes) is a key concept with multiple meanings in Indian religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and others. Although there is no direct single-word translation for '' ...

'' and got hooked on filmmaking. He graduated from KC College,

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

He joined the

Film and Television Institute of India The Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) is a film institute under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of India and aided by the Central Government of India. It is situated on the premises of the erstwhile ...

(FTII), Pune in 1973, to do a course in editing. Midway through it, the institution was closed for while due to student agitation, so he came to Bombay, started working, and never went back to complete the course.Prakash Jha
''The Cinemas of India'', by Yves Thoraval. Macmillan India, 2000. , . ''Page 191-192.''

Personal life

Prakash was at one time married to actress

Deepti Naval Deepti Naval (born 3 February 1952) is an Indian-born American actress, director, and writer, predominantly active in Hindi cinema. Her major contribution has been in the area of art cinema, winning critical acclaim for her sensitive and 'clos ...

with whom he has an adopted daughter Disha Jha.

Career

While still midway through his course, he started working on films independently in 1974. He made his first documentary, ''Under the Blue'', in 1975, and continued to do so for the next eight years. During this period he made some highly politically charged documentaries, like the one of the Bihar Sharif riot, titled, ''Faces After Storm'' (1984). It received considerable attention, as it was banned within 4–5 days of its release, though later it won the

National Film Award for Best Non-Feature Film The National Film Award for Best Non-Feature Film is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organization set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India. It is one of several awar ...

for the year. He made his debut as a feature film director with ''

Hip Hip Hurray Hip hip hooray (also hippity hip hooray; ''Hooray'' may also be spelled and pronounced hoorah, hurrah, hurray etc.) is a cheer called out to express congratulation toward someone or something, in the English-speaking world and elsewhere. By a sol ...

'' in 1984, scripted by

Gulzar Sampooran Singh Kalra (born 18 August 1934), known professionally as Gulzar, is an Indian Urdu poet, lyricist, author, screenwriter, and film director known for his works in Hindi cinema. He is regarded as one of greatest Urdu poets of this ...

and starring Raj Kiran and Deepti Naval as leads. Next came the film he received most recognition for, ''

'' (1984), which won the

National Film Award for Best Feature Film The National Award for Best Feature Film is one of the categories in the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in India. It is one of sev ...

and the

Filmfare Critics Award for Best Movie The Filmfare Critics Award for Best Film is awarded during annual Filmfare Awards, given by the Filmfare magazine. The awards are the oldest and most prominent film awards given for Hindi films in India. The yearly awards started in 1954. Mov ...

in 1985. The film was based on the

bonded labour Debt bondage, also known as debt slavery, bonded labour, or peonage, is the pledge of a person's services as security for the repayment for a debt or other obligation. Where the terms of the repayment are not clearly or reasonably stated, the pe ...

issue in

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...

. In 1986, he directed ''

Parinati ''Parinati'' (English: ''The Inevitable'') is a 1989 Hindi film directed by Prakash Jha.

'', based on the story by

Vijaydan Detha Vijaydan Detha (1 September 1926 – 10 November 2013), also known as Bijji, was a noted Indian writer of Rajasthani literature. He was a recipient of several awards including the Padma Shri and the Sahitya Akademi Award. Detha has more than 80 ...

. Over the years he has made over 25 documentaries, 13 feature films, two television features and three television series, including the popular TV serial ''Mungerilal Ke Hasin Sapne''. His production company has produced five films with independent directors. In 2004, Jha directed the 112-minute film '' Loknayak'', based on the life of

Bharat Ratna The Bharat Ratna (; ''Jewel of India'') is the highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conferred in recognition of "exceptional service/performance of the highest orde ...

Jayaprakash Narayan Jayaprakash Narayan (; 11 October 1902 – 8 October 1979), popularly referred to as JP or ''Lok Nayak'' (Hindi for "People's leader"), was an Indian independence activist, theorist, socialist and political leader. He is remembered for le ...

. In the film,

Chetan Pandit Chetan Pandit is an Indian Bollywood film and television actor. He played the role of Jayaprakash Narayan in the Prakash Jha-directed film '' Loknayak'' in 2004. Filmography Film Television * ''Punar Vivah'' as Suraj Pratap Sindhia * ''Kahi ...

played the role of Narayan and

Tisca Chopra Tisca Zareen Chopra (née Arora; born 1 November 1973) is an Indian actress, author and film producer who has appeared in over 45 feature films, predominantly in Hindi language. ''Taare Zameen Par'', her best known feature film, was India's off ...

played Prabhavati Devi, the wife of JP. In 2010, Jha directed ''

'', a contemporary take on the epic ''

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the Kuruk ...

''. It starred

Ajay Devgan Vishal Veeru Devgan (born 2 April 1969), known professionally as Ajay Devgn, is an Indian actor, film director and producer who works in Hindi cinema. Devgn has appeared in over a hundred films and has won numerous accolades, including four ...

Manoj Bajpai Manoj Bajpayee (born 23 April 1969), also transliterated as Manoj Bajpai, is an Indian actor who predominantly works in Hindi cinema and has also done Telugu and Tamil language films. Regarded as one of the finest actors of Hindi cinema, he i ...

Naseeruddin Shah Naseeruddin Shah (born 20 July 1950) is an Indian actor. He is notable in Indian parallel cinema. He has also starred in international productions. He has won numerous awards in his career, including three National Film Awards, three Filmfare A ...

Katrina Kaif Katrina Kaif (; born Katrina Turquotte; 16 July 1983) is a British actress who works in Hindi-language films. One of the highest-paid actresses in India, she has received accolades, including four Screen Awards and four Zee Cine Awards, in a ...

Arjun Rampal Arjun Rampal (born 26 November 1972) is an Indian actor, model, film producer and television personality who works in Hindi films. He made his acting debut in Rajiv Rai's romance film ''Pyaar Ishq Aur Mohabbat'' (2001) and has since gone on to ...

Nana Patekar Vishwanath Patekar (born 1 January 1951), better known as Nana Patekar, is an Indian actor, screenwriter, film maker, and a former Indian Territorial Army officer, mainly working in Hindi and Marathi cinema. He is regarded as one of the finest a ...

and

Ranbir Kapoor Ranbir Kapoor (; born 28 September 1982) is an Indian actor known for his work in Hindi-language films. He is one of the highest-paid actors of Hindi cinema and has featured in ''Forbes India''s Celebrity 100 list since 2012. Kapoor is the rec ...

, and was a critical and commercial success. His next venture was ''

'', which starred

Amitabh Bachchan Amitabh Bachchan (; born as Amitabh Shrivastav; 11 October 1942) is an Indian actor, film producer, television host, occasional playback singer and former politician known for his work in Hindi cinema. He is regarded as one of the most succe ...

Saif Ali Khan Saif Ali Khan (; born Sajid Ali Khan Pataudi; 16 August 1970) is an Indian actor and film producer who works in Hindi films. Part of the Pataudi family, he is the son of actress Sharmila Tagore and cricketer Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi. Khan ma ...

Deepika Padukone Deepika Padukone ( or ; born 5 January 1986) is an Indian actress who works in Hindi films. She is one of the highest-paid actresses in India, and her accolades include three Filmfare Awards. She features in listings of the nation's most pop ...

and

Prateik Babbar Prateik Babbar (born 28 November 1986) is an Indian actor and martial artist who predominantly appears in Hindi films. The son of actress Smita Patil and actor Raj Babbar, he began his career as a production assistant before pursuing an acting ...

. In 2012, Jha's release '' Chakravyuh'' starred Arjun Rampal,

Abhay Deol Abhay Singh Deol (born 15 March 1976) is an Indian actor and producer who is known for his work in Hindi films alongside one Kannada and one Tamil film. Born in the Deol family, he made his on-screen debut in 2005 with Imtiaz Ali's romantic c ...

, Manoj Bajpai,

Kabir Bedi Kabir Bedi ( pa, ਕਬੀਰ ਸਿੰਘ ਬੇਦੀ; born 16 January 1946) is an Indian actor. His career has spanned three continents covering India, the United States and especially Italy among other European countries in three media: f ...

and

Esha Gupta Esha Gupta (; born 28 November 1985) is an Indian actress, model and the winner of the Miss India International title of 2007. She has established a career in Bollywood films. Gupta entered the Femina Miss India contest in 2007, where she plac ...

, and was released in Dussehra 2012. His next film ''

'' (2013) starred

and

Ajay Devgn Vishal Veeru Devgan (born 2 April 1969), known professionally as Ajay Devgn, is an Indian actor, film director and producer who works in Hindi cinema. Devgn has appeared in over a hundred films and has won numerous accolades, including four ...

. In 2019, he acted in the film ''

Saand Ki Aankh ''Saand Ki Aankh'' () is a 2019 Indian biographical drama film directed by Tushar Hiranandani Tushar Hiranandani (born 13 July) is an Indian film writer. He grew up around the world of films as his grandfather Hiranand Hiranandani and fath ...

'' a

biographical film A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of a non-fictional or historically-based person or people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudra ...

directed by

Tushar Hiranandani Tushar Hiranandani (born 13 July) is an Indian film writer. He grew up around the world of films as his grandfather Hiranand Hiranandani and father Ashok Hiranandani were Hindi film distributors and had a company called Black and White film dis ...

. He played Rattan Singh Tomar, the patriarch of the Tomar family.

Politics

Prakash Jha contested and lost the 14th Lok Sabha election from his native place

Bettiah Bettiah is a city and administrative headquarters of West Champaran district ( Tirhut Division) - (Tirhut), near Indo-Nepal border, north-west of Patna, in Bihar state of India. History In 1244 A.D., Gangeshwar Dev, a Bhumihar Brahmin of ...

in 2004. He stood 6th and managed to get around 26,000 votes only, while the winner

Raghunath Jha Raghunath Jha (9 August 1939 – 15 January 2018) was an Indian politician who was Union minister of State for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprise and member of the 14th Lok Sabha of India. He represented the Bettiah constituency of Bihar ...

got 2,11,590 votes. He also lost the

15th Lok Sabha Members of the 15th Lok Sabha were elected during the 2009 general election in India. It was dissolved on 18 May 2014 by President Pranab Mukherjee. Indian National Congress-led United Progressive Alliance won 44 more seats than the previou ...

election to Sanjay Jaiswal in 2009 as

Lok Janshakti Party The Lok Janshakti Party ( LJP, "People’s Manpower Party") was a state political party mainly based in the state of Bihar, India. The party was formed in 2000 when Ram Vilas Paswan split from Janata Dal. The party had a considerable followin ...

(LJP) candidate from Paschim Champaran. In the same election

Sadhu Yadav Anirudh Prasad Yadav, better known as Sadhu Yadav (born 5 July 1967), is an Indian politician and founder of Garib Janta Dal (Secular). He has served in 14th Lok Sabha as MP of Gopalganj from 2004 to 2009 as Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) candid ...

stood 3rd as

INC Inc. or inc may refer to: * Incorporation (business), as a suffix indicating a corporation * ''Inc.'' (magazine), an American business magazine * Inc. No World, a Los Angeles-based band * Indian National Congress, a political party in India * I ...

candidate. Jha once again contested in the

16th Lok Sabha Members of the 16th Lok Sabha were elected during the 2014 Indian general election. The elections were conducted in 9 phases from 7 April 2014 to 12 May 2014 by the Election Commission of India. The results of the election were declared on 16 M ...

election in 2014 as a

Janata Dal (United) Janata Dal (United) ("People’s Party (United)”) abbreviated as JD(U) is an Indian political party with political presence mainly in eastern and north-eastern India. JD(U) is recognised as a state party in the states of Bihar , Arunachal Pr ...

candidate from Paschim Champaran and lost to Sanjay Jaiswal. In 2014 election affidavit he had mentioned that he has assets worth ₹92.5

crore A crore (; abbreviated cr) denotes ten million (10,000,000 or 107 in scientific notation) and is equal to 100 lakh in the Indian numbering system. It is written as 1,00,00,000 with the local 2,2,3 style of digit group separators (one lakh is e ...

s and liabilities worth ₹55.2 crores.

Social initiatives

For the last ten years Prakash Jha has been seriously involved with development initiatives in Bihar. He has been spearheading growth in infrastructure, health care and vocational training facilities in the state through the NGO Anubhooti.

Anubhooti

Prakash Jha is the chairman of Anubhooti, a registered society that has been working for cultural development, improvement of health care, disaster management and the upliftment of farmers and socio-economically backward people in Bihar since 1991. Most recently, the organization has been working for flood survivors. After the Kosi flood on 18 August 2008, Anubhooti has provided complete relief to 6000 people since September 2008. Anubhooti has created a model village, Hindolwa village, for those the flood affected, and is working towards their complete rehabilitation. Anubhooti has provided relief to 5000 people for health care in Supaul district in Bihar.

Filmography

Awards

National Film Awards

* 1984:

: ''Faces After The Storm'' (1984) * 1985:

: ''

'' (1985) * 1987:

National Film Award for Best Arts/Cultural Film The National Film Award for Best Arts/Cultural Film is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India. It is one of several aw ...

: '' Kudiattam'' * 1988:

National Film Award for Best Costume Design The National Film Award for Best Costume Design is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India. It is one of several awards p ...

: ''Parinati'' * 1988: National Film Award for Best Industrial Documentary: ''Looking Back'' * 2002:

: ''Sonal'' * 2004:

National Film Award for Best Film on Other Social Issues The National Film Award for Best Film on Other Social Issues is one of the category in the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organization set up by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in Ind ...

: ''

'' (2003) * 2006:

National Film Award for Best Screenplay The National Film Award for Best Screenplay is one of the categories in the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in India. It is one o ...

: ''

'' (2005)

Filmfare Awards

* 2001: Best Documentary of the year: ''Faces After The Storm'' (1983) * 1985:

: ''

'' (1985) * 2006:

Filmfare Best Dialogue Award The Filmfare Best Dialogue Award is given by the ''Filmfare'' as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films. Here is a list of the award winners since 1958 and the films for which they won. Superlatives ;Most Awards *Gulzar – 4 *Rahi ...

: ''

'' (2005)

Star Screen Awards

*2005: Star Screen Best Screenplay Award: ''Apaharan'' *2011: Star Screen Best Screenplay Award: ''Raajneeti''

Filmfare OTT Awards The Filmfare OTT Awards are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Hindi-language original programming over-the-top space. The first edition of the awards were held on 19 December 2020. It included films and web ser ...

ITA Awards The Indian Television Academy Awards, also known as the ''ITA Awards'', is an annual award ceremony organised by the Indian Television Academy to honour excellence in Hindi-language television. Ceremonies Categories Popular Awards * ITA Aw ...

Other awards

* 1983: International Film Festival of India, Special Jury Award: ''Faces After The Storm'' * 1984: All India Film Awards Association, Best Director: ''Hip Hip Hurray'' * 1986: Baba Saheb Ambedkar Award, Social Understanding * 1998: Screen Cinema Award, Best Actor in a Negative Role: Mrityudand - ''Death Sentence'' * 1998: Screen Cinema Award, Best Dialogue: Mrityudand - ''Death Sentence'' * 1998: Screen Cinema Award, Best Screenplay: Mrityudand - ''Death Sentence'' * 1998: Zee Cine Award, Best Dialogue: Mrityudand - ''Death Sentence'' * 1998: Zee Cine Award, Best Director: Mrityudand - ''Death Sentence'' * 1998: Sansui Film Awards, Best Film (Critics Choice): Mrityudand - ''Death Sentence'' * 1998: Sansui Film Awards, Best Actress: Mrityudand - ''Death Sentence''

International awards

* 1988: Presented as An Outstanding Film at the London Film Festival at the London Film Festival: Parinati - ''The Inevitable'' * 1998: Special Jury Award, Cinema Tout Ecran, Geneva for Best Feature: Mrityudand - ''Death Sentence'' * 1998: A

International acclaim

* ''Damul'' ("Bonded Until Death") - invited for competition and participation at Montreal, Berlin, Chicago, Moscow and several other festivals (1986–1987) * ''Parinati'' ("The Inevitable") - invited to several film festivals including the London International Film Festival (1988) * ''Parampara'' ("Traditions") and ''Abhivyakti'' ("An Expression") - represented India at the Festival of India in France and Japan * ''Mrityudand'' ("Death Sentence") - invited to several festivals like London, Dublin, Melbourne, Riocine (Brazil), Bangkok, New York Human Rights, Cinema Tout Ecran (Geneva) and others. * ''Apaharan'' - opening film of the Indian Film Festival in Israel (2005) * ''Lipstick under My Burkha'' - produced by Prakash Jha, starring Konkana Sen, selected to be premiered at prestigious Stockholm International Film Festival in November alongside Bertrand Bonello's ''Nocturama'', Mahmoud Sabbagh's ''Barakah Meets Barakah'' and Garth Davis' ''Lion''

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jha, Prakash 1952 births Living people Film directors from Mumbai Film and Television Institute of India alumni Delhi University alumni 20th-century Indian film directors Indian documentary filmmakers Hindi-language film directors Film producers from Mumbai Indian male screenwriters Filmfare Awards winners Kendriya Vidyalaya alumni Sainik School alumni People from West Champaran district Candidates in the 2014 Indian general election Janata Dal (United) politicians Lok Janshakti Party politicians 21st-century Indian film directors Politicians from Mumbai Hindi film editors Film editors from Bihar Film producers from Bihar Film directors from Bihar Best Original Screenplay National Film Award winners Directors who won the Best Feature Film National Film Award Producers who won the Best Film on Other Social Issues National Film Award Directors who won the Best Film on Other Social Issues National Film Award Screenwriters from Bihar Male actors from Bihar Ramjas College alumni