I have met Naxalites, says Prakash Jha

Mumbai: Filmmaker Prakash Jha, whose ‘Chakravyuh’ revolves around Naxalite wars, says he has interacted with Naxalites and tried to showcase both sides of the issue through the new film.

"The message of the film is to understand the whole issue of Naxalites, what happens and why it happens, to bring into the limelight the tragedy, which unfolds everyday. If the problem is diagnosed with an open mind, the solution to this problem will also arise," Jha said on the trailer launch of the film Friday night. "We have tried to bring out both sides of the situation to the public domain through this film," he added. Though he supports Naxals` or Maoist rebels` ideology of social equality he isn`t in favour of the method they adopt to achieve it. "I have been meeting Naxalites since years. They are just like us. They want a classless and equal society, something which I support. I don`t support the method which they adopt in order to achieve their goal," he said. The film has been shot in Bihar and the entire schedule was wrapped up in about 57 days. Slated for Oct 24 release, ‘Chakravyuh’ features Arjun Rampal, Abhay Deol, Manoj Bajpayee, Kabir Bedi, Esha Gupta, Anjali Patil and Om Puri. Talking about the cast of his film, Jha said: "When we spoke about the issue, we immediately thought of Arjun for the role of Adil Khan. I called him up and blocked his dates immediately. For Abhay, we needed someone vulnerable. I was lucky enough to get Abhay as he was already shooting for a film at that time." "For the roles played by Esha and Anjali, we thought of many people and we needed someone young. When you see the film, you will not think of the cast at all and will enjoy the film," he said. IANS