Mumbai: For the first time, director Prakash Jha and actor Shekhar Suman — both hailing from Bihar and long celebrated for their work in Bollywood — are collaborating on a film. Their project, titled Janadesh, is now being shot in Gwalior, with Shekhar Suman sharing behind-the-scenes moments from the set on social media.
“Bihar Union Zindabad! On the sets of our first collaboration Janadesh! An extremely powerful film by Prakash Jha,” Suman wrote, posting a picture with the director.
The cast also includes Tusshar Kapoor, Rahul Bose, Pragati Srivastava and Ishwak Singh. For Singh, the opportunity marks a career milestone. “Working with Prakash sir has always been on my wishlist. Now I am finally getting to experience his fantastic vision of storytelling. He is a master storyteller,” he said.
Unlike the usual political dramas that circle around power games and electoral rivalries, Janadesh takes a different path. Jha, who has built his reputation on socially charged narratives like Raajneeti and Gangaajal, says the new film seeks to question what democracy actually means to ordinary people, and how it has evolved — or eroded — over time.
True to Jha’s signature style, authenticity will drive the film. Nearly 200 local artists are being cast alongside the lead stars, bringing grassroots texture and raw realism to the story. The aim, Jha explains, is to craft a narrative that feels grounded in lived experience while still addressing universal themes of power, justice and people’s rights.
With Janadesh, Jha appears set to continue his legacy of hard-hitting realism — only this time, with an even sharper, more human lens on democracy itself.
