/> On Friday morning Parkash Jha heads for New Jersey to serve as a judge at the 27th Miss India/USA contest.

Known for his hardhitting Bihar-based gritty dramas and for his various charitable causes, Prakash would seem to be the last candidate to judge a beauty contest.

"I agree completely, " he concurred with embarrassment on the eve of his departure. "I was taken aback when they asked me. Of course I've worked with some of the most beautiful actresses of our screen from Shabana Azmi, Deepti Naval and Madhuri Dixit to Bipasha Basu and Katrina Kaif. But does that qualify me?"

Prakash agreed to the rather-unconventional request for the unconventional artiste that he is, on one condition.

"I wanted them to donate generously to my project Punarwaas for the rehabilitation of Bihar's flood victims. The only reason I agreed was because they agreed to donate for my Bihar relief fund.

Otherwise at the moment the only creative project I'm looking at is Rajneeti. It has the biggest starcast I've worked with.During these times of recession I think it's daring of me to take on the cast that I have."

With Ajay Devgan, Ranbir Kapoor, Katrina Kaif and Arjun Rampal in place, Prakash Jha now needs to find an American girlfriend for Ranbir's character.

In fact that's the other reason why Prakash is heading for the US at this very minute. He wants to scout for the right actress to play Ranbir's Caucasian love interest.

"It's a small but significant part. I don't want a gori junior artiste. I want a top-name actress who can match Ranbir's talent."

The other uncast role in Rajneeti is that of Ajay Devgana and Ranbir's mother which Prakash offered to Raveena Tandon.

Now it has apparently gone to Tisca Arora.

Not willing to divulge details on that casting Prakash says, "I want an actress who can age from 17 to 50. It's a very wide- spectrum role with many shades. The name you mention fits the bill. But I've a couple of other names in mind."