Prakash Jha: If producers had the power, then Aditya Chopra would have made Uday Chopra a superstar

Post Sushant Singh Rajput’s death, we have seen Bollywood divided into the topics like ‘nepotism’, ‘insider vs outsider’, ‘bullying’ in the industry and whatnot. There have been rifts, mudslinging, debate on social media and eventually, there has been a discourse today. People have raised questions on the nature of Bollywood and its structure and the way it has been functioning for years. Names of big production houses and producers like Aditya Chopra, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Karan Johar and others cropped up in Sushant Singh Rajput’s case. Sushant was an outsider who came from Bihar and made it big in Bollywood. There were theories after his death that as he was an outsider, he was sidelined and cornered in the industry due to which he went into depression and committed suicide. The ‘outsider vs insider’ topic became an intense discussion.

We spoke to filmmaker Prakash Jha on Sushant Singh Rajput and the entire debate, to which he said, “Iss profession main ek baat toh pakki hain ki chahe aap kisi family ko belong karte hoh, agar aap acchi cheez nahi banayenye aur jaanta se aap connect nahi hue, toh aapko utha ke fhek deti hain jaanta. Aur wahi jaanta jo aaj baat kar rahe outsider aur insider ki, actually outsider se insider wahi jaanta banati hain.”

He further said, “Audience ko bhi shikh leni chahiye ki woh kisi bahar ke bacche ko jo kaabil hain aur mehnaat karta hain usko agar mauka milta hain aur uski film banta hain, toh jake dekhiye. Kamse kam ek baar dekhe usko mauka de. Hum proposal is waije se nahi bana pate kyunki hume pata hai audience ayegi nahi picture dekhne. Toh outsiders ko mauka kaun dega? Outsiders ko mauka producers nahi deta. Unko mauka jaanta deti hain. Ye baat agar jaanta samajh jaye na, tab toh sara mamla hi sulajh jaye. Jitne bade bade productions houses hain, inke aukat jaanta ke saamne kuch nahi hain. Kyunki agar hoti toh Aditya Chopra ne aapne bhai (Uday Chopra) ko bohot bada superstar bana diya hota.”

You can watch the interview here.

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Also Read: Prakash Jha on Sushant Singh Rajput’s death: I’m happy that CBI is investigating the case, I hope they give a closure