Filmmaker Prakash Jha, whose Aashram Season 3 premiered today on MX Player, has faced a few controversies due to the Bobby Deol series. In October 2021, the sets of the show were vandalised by Bajrang Dal members after the leader of Bajrang Dal Bhopal accused Jha of ‘defaming Hindus’. The filmmaker has now responded to those accusations and said that he was completely unaware of such accusations. The Gangaajal director told Zoom Digital, “This is the first time I have heard that. It’s okay. I give you the freedom to say that. It is your point of view.” He added, “There’s a very beautiful saying about dharma in India. It is not people who protect dharma, it is dharma which protects people. Aadmi dharm ko nahi bachaa sakta, dharm aadmi ko bachata hai. Toh jo log dharm ko bachaane nikale hai, woh galat fehmi mein hain. (People can’t save dharma, dharma saves man. So those who go out to save dharma are mistaken.)” Stating that his show Aashram is a work of fiction, Prakash Jha said, “Dharma kya hai? Jo sach hai woh dharma hain, aur koi cheez agar sach nahi hain, toh woh dharma ho hi nahi sakti. Toh hum jhooth bata rahe hai toh dharma ho hi nahi sakta, dharma se koi lena dena hi nahi hai uska. Jo woh jhooth ki rastein pe nikal gaye hain, unki soch waisi hogi, par sach ke raastein pe laakhon log chalte hai, pura samaaj chalta hai. (What is dharma? The truth is dharma, and if something is not true, it cannot be dharma. We are making a fictional show and it cannot be dharma, it has nothing to do with dharma. People who are on the path of lies, their thinking must be of that kind, but lakhs of people walk on the path of righteousness, the entire society functions on that.) ” Aashram Season 3 is currently streaming on MX Player. In her review of the series, The Indian Express’ Shubhra Gupta wrote, “Bobby Deol and Chandan Roy Sanyal-starrer rechristens itself Ek Badnaam Aashram, but offers just more of the dreary same.”
