What is the social problem you are highlighting in Apaharan?

Over the years, I had been reading about several stories and incidents of kidnapping in the Hindi belt, especially in eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Throughout, I was researching on the subject and keeping an eye on it. It was something socially bad but creatively interesting. So I worked out an emotional story around it involving the relationship between a father and a son. That?s Apaharan which should have an August release.

You have the knack of balancing a gritty drama with all the standard elements of a typical Bollywood film. How do you do that?

When you go to a bookshop, you will find all kinds of books. There will be popular literature ? thrillers, detective stories, strong sexual stories. Then you will also have profound novels with layers of human psyches. Now, there is a reader for every type of book. Likewise, there is an audience for everything.

It is important to understand that you are addressing the common people with your film. So the film should be made with the grammar of cinema that they are used to. You can slowly mould the audience to a specific kind of cinema. There are people who go to the theatres saying: ?Yeh Prakash Jha ki film hai?. I say what I want to say but in their language.

But reality stays the focus in all your films?

Being believable is the key. The audience knows that a cop can behave in a certain way or a lover can act in a particular manner. I can?t show something which they do not expect. And what?s most important is a good story, which will emotionally bind the viewer. He has to sympathise with some character or some narrative. I may fail but I?ll keep trying.

I can?t make films like Aditya Chopra or Karan Johar. They are valid pieces of work but I can?t make them. I just have a different perceptive of cinema. I can?t make Shah Rukh behave like that. It?s not that he is not a good actor. In Swades, he was fantastic ? honestly heart-wrenching.

So all these big stars are wasted in the popcorn movies?

Entertainment is not a waste. In fact, they have more consumers than what I do. It?s all the physicality of the matter. You need to satisfy your intellect and also your spirit. They work at different levels.

Do you think you went off your usual track in Dil Kya Kare?

Not really. If you look at Dil Kya Kare, it is a father-daughter story, where the father discovers that he has adopted his own daughter. And the real mother comes back and the relationship redevelops. It was based on a true story.

You have also made a habit of working with the same set of people ? Ajay Devgan, Mohan Agashe, Ayub Khan? Sheer superstition or the studio system?

I don?t know. To me, people become family. I feel I owe it to them. I like working with them. They like working with me. We must become even. We also keep on adding people ? in Apaharan, we have a whole lot of new actors. Nana (Patekar) is an amazing actor, who?s joined the group with the film. Then, Mohan Agashe is playing a completely different character, something which he has never portrayed before. As for Ajay, the story and the character fit him.

And you have Bipasha Basu in cotton saris and salwars?

Yes, and she has a wonderful presence. What a face with all those rustic looks! I wanted a Muzaffarpur kind of a small-town look and she has delivered brilliantly. I am very particular about my casting.

nWhat are the other projects your production house is planning?

We are working on quite a few projects. One of the films will be directed by Nana Patekar. He will star in it too alongside other actors. A couple of other films should go on the floors in the next three-four months. The whole idea is to utilise the efficient production team that has been developed over the years. They can produce films within time and within budget and they can work more and deliver more.