Himanshu Guru
“Yesteryear films had both body and soul. Today’s films seem to be lacking in some vital respects,” says Mahasweta Ray, unarguably one of the leading actresses in Oriya filmdom, while dwelling on the differences between old and new Oriya movies. Ray, a living legend, will be seen essaying the role of an unbiased mother in the upcoming flick ‘Dele Dhara Katha Sare’.
“My first film ‘Sesha Shravana’ was released May 10, 1976. When I look back at my four decades’ experiences and achievements in the industry, I feel proud. I celebrated the day with my friends and colleagues,” said Mahasweta.
Commenting on the difference between today’s Oriya films and those that were made in the past she said, “This is a point of discussion in the film fraternity. In the past proper research was carried out by the directors and artistes. The actors sat for a discussion on the script before the shooting started. The artistes interacted with the music director and choreographer to plan out the shots. But these days everything is done in haste and without proper planning. Anybody these days can become a director.”
‘Dele Dhara Katha Sare’ has an interesting storyline. Anil Choudhury (Bobby Mishra) is the wayward son of Chitrangada (Mahasweta). He splurges on gambling. To tame the brat, his mother comes up with a plan. She convinces Maya, a highly qualified girl, to pretend to have fallen in love with Anil. The two women develop an emotional bonding. Meanwhile, Maya falls in love with a village boy by the name of Mohan. Chitrangada comes to know about Maya’s feelings and approaches the latter’s father to solemnise the marriage. But the families of Mohan and Maya are sworn enemies. However, with the intervention of Chitrangada the marriage finally takes place. She gifts Maya all her property. Enraged by this Anil kidnaps Maya, but Chitrangada doesn’t let her motherly feelings get the better of her sense of righteousness. She kills her own son and saves Maya.
Dwelling on the plot, director Shailendra Mishra said, “The plot has some twists towards the end and people would really love them.” Asked about his experience of directing a veteran actor like Mahasweta in his directorial debut Mishra said, “Though this is my debut film, I am not new to films. I have a number of hit tele serials I did for Tarang TV as a producer to my credit. Besides the story is interesting and offered me a lot of scope as a director. I wanted to come up with a film that was not run-of-the-mill and Oriya film fans will surely appreciate my endeavour.”
With Jyoti and Malbika in the lead roles, ‘Dele Dhara Katha Sare’ has Ajit Das, Minaketan and Bobby Mishra sharing screen space with Mahasweta. Music of the film has been scored by Prashant Padhi to the lyrics of Basant Raj Samal, Bapu Goswami and Arun Mantri. Story, screenplay and dialogues have been penned by Rajaniranjan while P Ranjan Patro is the art director. Abhiram Mishra is the director of photography. The director said that shooting and post production work is over and the flick is slated for a Raja release.
