Aashram maker Prakash Jha clears the air as netizens allege Bobby-led web series about self-styled spiritual guru defames Hinduism
Uma Ramasubramanian (MID-DAY; August 24, 2020)

Intriguing as the journeys of spiritual godmen may be, bringing their stories to screen can be tricky. Filmmaker Prakash Jha, hence, was certain to weave a fictional story for his upcoming web series Aashram, which sees Bobby Deol play self-styled godman Baba Nirala of Kashipur. "Our country is so rich when it comes to spirituality. But when people begin to have blind faith, they get exploited. This is a fictional story of a criminal who is disguised as a baba. He promises a new world and salvation to people, and abuses their faith to exploit them. The series is not about any [real-life] baba," insists the filmmaker.

Knowing that subjects focusing on religious practices need to be treated with sensitivity, the makers of the 10-part MX Player series released a disclaimer clarifying that the show does not intend to hurt religious sentiments. The message did little to pacify a section of netizens who alleged that the show — in depicting a con man as a spiritual guru — was an attempt to defame Hinduism.

"If you watch the series, you will notice that we have not shown any particular religion or god. [We have not mentioned] Hindu or Sikh or any religion. I have remained honest to the story. One should be sensitive about people's beliefs and faith, and I would never make fun of any religion," asserts Jha.

The filmmaker says that Deol was his first choice for the role. "Bobby is a good actor. He looks convincing on screen and has done justice to the role."