Filmmaker Vipin Parashar’s recent con comedy Udanchhoo saw actor Pankaj Jha as a Haryanvi cop who spoils the plans of self-proclaimed Godman Guru G played by Prem Chopra. In a role that outwits others, Jha seemed quite upbeat about donning the khaki as Chatur Singh and speaking in a Haryanvi accent. “The film had comic acts by characters in their quintessential style. All of us did our parts without imitating each other, and that’s what made it refreshing,” says Jha, who is back in Mumbai after finishing a short shooting schedule in the Ganderbal district of Kashmir for his next Gul Makai.
Directed by Amjad Khan, Gul Makai is based on the life of Pakistani activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai and has Jha playing the role of a journalist and sharing screen space with Reem Shaikh, Divya Dutta, Mukesh Rishi, Abhimanyu Singh and Ajaz Khan, among others. “I am playing a journalist, Abdul Hai Kakkar, who was responsible for unintentionally discovering Malala Yousafzai while looking for a story.
He was the one who had asked Malala’s father Ziauddin Yousafzai, a local school director, if any of the teachers at his school would be willing to write about living under the Taliban regime. None of the teachers came forward, but his 11-year-old daughter studying in seventh-grade, Malala, was interested in writing a diary. The Diary of a Pakistani School Girl written by Malala was published under the byline Gul Makai,” says Jha. The role is short but an important anchor of the plot, and like his most other films.
Talking about his last release Udanchhoo, Jha says, “The film takes a subtle dig at the recent crackdown against black money. It reflects how godmen manage to take gullible followers, irrespective of class and gender, for a ride. They influence, misguide and use them as a means for their black money operations.” In Udanchhoo, Guru G uses his spiritual influence to amass wealth by coning his blinded-by-faith followers, but he is in turn conned by a bunch of youngsters.
“There are elements of chaos, fun, and suspense picked from our everyday life to make the plot relatable,” says Parashar. Known in the Bollywood circuit for his hard-hitting serious roles, Ashutosh Rana is donning a colourful, and funny on-screen avatar, and to add to the comic quotient yesteryear’s villain Prem Chopra is playing a Godman in the film.