Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, July 14: Oriya folk music has lately been in the news, but not for all the wrong reasons.
While the ‘unauthorised’ remix of the cult-hit Sambalpuri song Rangabati by Sona Mohapatra, Rituraj Mohanty and Ram Sampath led to a controversy, it is learnt that maverick filmmaker Nila Madhab Panda too has included a modified version of the song in his upcoming Hindi movie Kaun Kitne Paani Mein, to be released in August.
The director, who shot to fame with his critically-acclaimed movie I Am Kalam, has however clarified that he has included the famous folk song of western Orissa with prior permission from the original copyright holders.
Kaun Kitne Paani Mein is slated to be released August 28. Panda says he has obtained written permission from the lyricist and music director of the song and said he wanted to include the song in his film as a way of paying tribute to the land of his ancestors.
“I feel proud to bring the essence of my home soil, through the song, and introduce it to the Hindi cinema world,” Panda said.
The director said he hoped that the controversy over the remix of the song would soon blow over.
“I hope the dispute between the singers and original composers of the song will soon get resolved amicably,” he said.
Starring renowned Bollywood actors like Kunal Kapoor, Radhika Apte, Gulshan Grover and Saurabh Shukla, the film was screened recently as the closing film of the Jagaran Film Festival in New Delhi, and was met with round applause.
Kaun Kitne Paani Mein is produced by international NGO One Drop Foundation of Montreal and aims at raising awareness on issues of water and sanitation in India’s rural areas where 70 per cent of the population lives. The film is bilingual (Hindi and Oriya) and also has an English version for international audiences.
Popular Odissi dancer Saswat Joshi and Prakriti Mishra have performed in the Rangabati song.
Set in the rain-shadow areas of Orissa, the film travels between two villages fighting for over two decades over a water reservoir. The film aims at raising awareness about the impending water crisis and sanitation in India’s rural areas.
Panda’s earlier films include
I Am Kalam (2011) and Jalpari: The Desert Mermaid (2012) that brought him to the limelight for his bold
approach regarding critical social
issues.