Renowned filmmaker Prakash Jha is known for making films that deal with politics, corruption, and crime. His next offering is Aashram, an MX Player Original revolving around a godman. Popular Bollywood actor Bobby Deol, who can be currently seen in the Netflix film Class of 83 (2020), plays the central character in the nine-episode series.
Buzz has it that Aashram is loosely based on the lives of godmen Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, a convicted rapist and murderer, and Asaram Bapu, charged with raping a minor girl. When asked about the same, Prakash Jha said, “This story was brought to me by MX Player and it is about how the common man puts his faith in anyone who can easily influence him. I am a Hindu and I do puja every day and follow my religion and love all the religions. But in this country, there are people who have exploited people who have placed their faith in them. This is the story of a criminal who is revered as a Baba.”
The award-winning filmmaker went on to add, “It is not based on any person or a particular religion. It is a fictitious story about people and their ideals which lead to their exploitation. We even released a disclaimer before the trailer was released, saying we respect our country and it is a pleasure to live in a country which has many religions, a vast culture, and spiritualism.”
He further said, “Once it is released, people will understand that it is not about any religion or a particular individual. There is not a single reference to religion, colour, a statue, a god, or anything.”
Also starring Aaditi Pohankar, Anupriya Goenka, Chandan Roy Sanyal, Adhyayan Suman, Darshan Kumaar, and Sachin Shroff in pivotal roles, Aashram starts streaming on 28th August on MX Player.
Zain Imam
A still from Suman Indori
