Prakash Jha takes inspiration from former Bihar DGP for Pareeksha

Prakash Jha has never been known for fanciful entertainment, and his next film seeks to touch upon similar real issues. This time, the filmmaker has gone to even create characters based on real-life serving officers. The director's next film, Pareeksha, is based upon the story of children in a Naxalite affected region of Bihar, and he had former Bihar Director General of Police (DGP) Abhayanand offering help in the research. 

In a statement, the director said, "Mr Abhayanand told me that when he was posted in Jehanabad as senior superintendents of police (SP), he used to often go to villages in Naxal-affected areas and would spot a bunch of kids whose intelligence used to bowl him out. So, he started chatting with them and asking questions, and encouraged them to come for special coaching, which he arranged in the town. Some of them were so intelligent that they qualified for engineering colleges." 

This inspired the filmmaker to turn the story into a film, which now features Adil Hussain and Sanjay Suri, among others. 

However, Mr Abhayanand is quick to clarify that the film is not a biopic. In the statement, he said, "I casually spoke to Mr. Jha once about one of my visits to a Naxal-affected belt when I met some children who solved a complex problem. They weren’t school-going kids, but I realized how even kids who do not go to school have an innate intelligence,” says the former cop, drawing out the pertinent point that drew Jha into telling this story.

The film will also feature actress Priyanka Bose and revolve around the struggles of a poor family who desire to get their son educated in an English medium school in order to ensure a bright future.