India: Prakash Jha heads to New Jersey, USA to judge beauty contest and pick a leading lady for Ranbir Kapoor
Prakash Jha is very embarrassed by his latest mission. Today, he heads to New Jersey to serve as a judge at a beauty contest.
Known for his hard-hitting Bihar-based gritty dramas and for his various charitable causes, Prakash would seem to be the last candidate to judge a beauty contest.
Am I qualified?
"I agree completely," he concurs with embarrassment on the eve of his departure. "I was taken aback when they asked me. Of course I've worked with some of the most beautiful actresses of our screen from Shabana Azmi, Deepti Naval and Madhuri Dixit to Bipasha Basu and Katrina Kaif. But does that qualify me?"
On one condition only
Prakash agreed to the rather-unconventional request, on one condition . "I wanted them to donate generously to my project Punarwaas for the rehabilitation of Bihar's flood victims. The only reason I agreed was because they agreed to donate for my Bihar relief fund. Otherwise, at the moment, the only creative project I'm looking at is Rajneeti. It has the biggest star cast I've worked with. During these times of recession, I think it's daring of me to take on the cast that I have."
In search
With Ajay Devgan, Ranbir Kapoor, Katrina Kaif and Arjun Rampal in place, Prakash Jha now needs to find an American girlfriend for Ranbir's character.
In fact, that's the other reason why Prakash is heading for the US. He wants to scout for the right actress to play Ranbir's love interest.
"It's a small but significant part. I don't want a gori junior artiste. I want a top-billed actress who can match Ranbir's talent."
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