Tempered storm

He is the director of the critically succesful A Very Very Silent Film (2001) and Matrubhoomi,A Nation Without Women (2003). But the tinsel town did not see much of Manish Jha after Anwar (2007) beyond a brief outing in Mumbai Cutting (2010). The young director was however spotted at the inauguration of actor Pankaj Jha’s painting exhibition at a city art gallery. ” Matrubhoomi generated a huge social fervour,brought in critical acclaim,international fame and a lot of awards in my kitty. I could not handle so much of limelight. The success got to me,” says the young Jha,who was just 23 when he made Matrubhoomi . “I was all over the place. And then there was a sudden lull in my life when Anwar bombed. But now I believe this lull is the calmness before the storm.”

Jha is ready to unveil two feature films,Little Mozart ,a Manipuri flick which will showcase the negligence of the north eastern states of India. The second venture is titled Mountain Man,and is due for release this December. “It has been produced by Sanjay Singh (of Udaan fame),and is based on a true story of a man who breaks a mountain to build a Taj Mahal for his wife,” Jha explains.

Post the Matrubhoomi high point,Jha flirted with the idea of communalism in Anwar and then went on to direct a segment titled And it Rained for Mumbai Cutting. “After tackling an issue such as female infanticide for my first film,it was difficult for a director to abide by the norms of mainstream cinema. The simple fact that I defied the voyeuristic pleasures of the male gaze of a camera in Matrubhoomi made it difficult to deal with the mainstream pressure of directing Anwar,” Jha adds.

It all made his plans set for the future. “If my forthcoming films do not work,then I will get back to what I did best — directing short films. And start a production house which will solely produce short films,” says Jha.