WHAT JAYAPRADA SAYS IS

I had been waiting for this day for 20 years. It is my good fortune that I am getting to work with a legend like him. Really, God is kind.” That is the vote of thanks Jayaprada offers to Buddhadeb Dasgupta, who has just signed her for his next Hindi film.
“It is an emotional saga, a performance-oriented role,” she says itching for the film to get rolling. “We are sorting out the details this afternoon. But the film should be ready before the end of this year itself,” says Jayaprada on the way from the airport to her hotel in Kolkata. “Once I am through with these details, there is some post-production work of ‘Sesh Sangath’. It will be over in a couple of months. Then the film will be ready to release.”
An adaptation of Telugu super hit “Osey Ramulamma”, the film also stars Jackie Shroff and Jaya’s good friend, Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh. “You won’t see a subdued Jayaprada in this film. I play a woman who takes on the male-dominated society, a woman who is fiercely independent. There is an element of the Naxalite problem tackled here but the film is quite different from the Telugu hit.” And what is Amar Singh doing in the film?
“It is not that he is acting for the first time. He plays a retired army officer who is my mentor and guide, just like in politics.”Prolific actress
Talking of politics, isn’t Jayaprada also guilty of devoting too much to her films and her Amrapali dance performances to the neglect of her constituency? Incidentally, she is shaping up to be the most prolific multi-lingual actress of the generation, doing films in Hindi, Bengali, Telugu, Tamil and Kannada at the same time with even a Bhojpuri dubbed version of her upcoming “Dasavataram” reportedly ready!
“I visit my constituency every month and spend four to seven days on every visit. Every time I go to Rampur, I visit 10-12 villages. When I came to Rampur from Rajahmundary, I said Andhra is my janambhoomi and Rampur will be my karambhoomi. Today, I feel I have got a rebirth after coming here. It is like my janambhoomi, like a mother to me. People talk of the poverty of the place, I would like them to talk of its rich arts and culture. I have learnt about Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb after coming here. Rampur is a living example of Hindu-Muslim confluence. There is low literacy rate in the constituency but I want girls to get education. I have opened a girls’ inter college in Swar, want to open another in Tanda but there is local political opposition. I want every Rampur girl to be educated and independent, not depend on men.”Passionate about work
Once she starts talking of Rampur, there are no full stops. Almost like a river in spate, she gushes on, “I have opened a nursing training centre, a 24-hour medical emergency facility for women. I am upgrading the health facilities for treatment of cancer and heart problems. I have built nine bridges in Rampur. They serve some 40 villages, where people were not often able to get good matrimonial matches for their children because every year in rain the villages would be cut off from the rest of the State. A Rs.six crore project has been sanctioned for the benefit of zari workers, and beedi workers are availing better medical facilities…”
Clearly, passionate about her adopted “motherland”, Jaya is no mood to submit to people’s allegations regarding the recent attacks on the CRPF station in Rampur. Or even the fact that her alleged soft handling of the crisis might send wrong signals. “I have helped out the victims with cheques from my Nishtha Foundation. However, it is important not to give up on good things just because people make wild allegations. I am trying to modernise madrasa education, get computers for students. Boys and girls who did not get an opportunity to study earlier should get them now. Now people want education, there is craving for opportunities. Education changes the mindset. I am not into politics.”
Well, she might not be the typical politician next door, but she has managed to do a fine balancing job of her career as an artiste and as a principal vote-fetcher for her party. Not to forget all the legal problems she has faced with cases filed against her in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, where Jayaprada Theatre was closed down due to non-payment of dues. “I have come out clean in both the cases. The honourable court in Andhra closed the case last week. In the Jayaprada Theatre too, there was a mistake. I am the landlord but the company is not mine. I am a good person, an obedient citizen of the country.”
This “obedient citizen” is busy hopping from Rampur to Chennai, Kolkata to Hyderabad, Bangalore to Delhi, and on to Mumbai. “I am going back home after one and a half months today. I am thrilled.”
But before that, there is the dubbing of “Sesh Sangath” and the finer details of the Dasgupta film to be taken care of. “I am living a dream. Really, no complaints at all. A few years ago if somebody had presented all the problems before me, I would have cried. Today, I am a strong woman. I handle my own career. I am happy with the recognition I am getting as an artiste now and some of the movies I am doing today which did not come my way when I was at the peak as an actress.”
Incidentally, she has also been seen in a couple of recent Telugu and Kannada films with Balakrishnan and Vishnuvardhan. And is busy wrapping up the role of a lifetime as Rani Channama in “Krantiveer Sangolli Rayanna”, a brave soldier who took on the British might in 1824. Besides acting opposite Kamal Hasan in the multi-lingual “Dasavataram”, now ready for nationwide release. “With Kamal Hasan and Rajnikanth it is a lot of nostalgia. They are both icons of not just South Indian cinema but the nation. I came to the industry when Kamal too was beginning his career. It is good to touch base with him again.” As indeed was the case with Vishnuvardhan in “Ee Bandhana”. “It is a subject close to my heart. Though similar to ‘Baghban’, the film is different. I am glad I did it because the subject of senior citizens treatment has been raised in Parliament too. I made my point through the film.”
Then there is a Percept Pictures’ film. Not to forget her own Hindi film, “Level Crossing”, starring Irrfan where she has even done a hip-hop number with Adnan Sami. “If there are no elections, I should be able to finish it this year. Earlier I was not happy with the script.”
And two of her films, “Deha” and “College Campus” are lying in the cans. “Cannot help it. ‘Deha’ was a wonderful film but Sahara has not been able to release it. But it happens to an artiste. I can only control what is in my hands.”
And in her hands is plenty. More than half a dozen films in many languages, an Amrapali performance in Orissa, and lots of work to do in Rampur. Clearly, the dream is being realised.
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