Celebrated filmmaker Prakash Jha, whose politics-based former film ‘Rajneeti’ won critical acclaim, is these days reportedly miffed with the UP government over its interference in the promotional activities of his upcoming film ‘Aarakshan’. According to reports, at first when the makers of ‘Aarakshan’ wanted Big B to conduct a seminar on job reservations at the Lucknow University, they were not granted the permission to do so. Then later on, when they had arranged to hold a meeting at the Indira Gandhi auditorium, they were again barred from executing their plan. Consequently, the ‘Aarakshan’ director Jha is infuriated by the ban posed on his teams’ activities and for this he has approached the UP CM Mayawati to look into the matter. When asked why he has sought for Mayawati’s intervention, Prakash Jha said, "I want to ask her what the problem is. Does the UP administration fear a law and order situation because of Aarakshan?" "I've left a message with someone close to her. Now I'm waiting for her to revert," added the moviemaker.

‘Aarakshan’ seems to divide Dalits and others – RPI chief The forthcoming movie ‘Aarakshan’ is amidst a lot of controversies as it deals with the sensitive subject of caste-based reservations in jobs and educational institutions. Even before the release of the movie, the National Commission of Scheduled Castes (NCSC) has termed the film as "anti-Dalit".

Apart from this, Ramdas Athavale, the chief of the Republican Party of India (RPI) has stated that this imminent film of Prakash Jha is suspected to divide the Dalits from the other communities. In a conversation with the IANS, Athavale said, "The film seems to be trying to put a divide between Dalits and the others.” “We will wait for the film to release and then protest against it if it promotes an anti-Dalit stand," further stated Athavale.

‘Aarakshan’ to hit screens on Aug. 12 Helmed by Prakash Jha, ‘Aarakshan’ stars the big stars of Bollywood namely, Amitabh Bachchan, Saif Ali Khan and Deepika Padukone. In the film, which is based on reservations, while Amitabh plays the role of the principal of a reputed educational institution, Saif portrays the character of a Dalit lecture from the same institution. Deepika Padukone has been paired opposite Saif to potray his on-screen love interest. Dips plays Big B’s daughter in the flick.