Meet The Chhattisgarhi Song ‘Mohini’ Fame Deepak Sahu

Meet The Chhattisgarhi Song ‘Mohini’ Fame Deepak Sahu

If you love watching music videos on YouTube and you love to listen to songs in different languages, then it’s obvious that you may have seen or heard of the recent viral Chhattisgarhi song ‘Mohini’. Featuring Deepak Sahu and Pooja Sharma, it has been sung by Monika Verma and Toshant Kumar. The song has been composed by Monika herself and it has got more than 100 million views now and is getting a lot of appreciation from around the world.

Now Deepak has done two Odia music videos titled ‘Prema Kumari’ and ‘Sukumari’. Both the songs are trending and are made under D films banner. Sung by Humane Sagar and Ananya Sritam Nanda, the song ‘Prema kumari’ has been directed by Santosh starring Simran opposite Deepak. Raja D’s directorial ‘Sukumari’ has been sung by Mantu Chhuria and Aseema Panda, starring Sradha Panigrahi opposite Deepak. Both the songs are in the million views race now.

Hailing from Raipur, Chhattisgarh, born into a middle class family, Deepak is the middle one between his two sisters. Keeping his keen interest in acting, he has attended several dance workshops in Mumbai when he was only 16 years old. After being the runner up in the dance reality show of DD National titled ‘Bharat Ki Shaan Lets Dance’ and participating in few other dance reality shows, he has worked as a choreographer for about 10 years in Mumbai.

Seeing the successful artistic collaborations and to know more about Deepak, My City Links talked with him for an exclusive interview.

How did you get the offer to work in two Odia songs back to back?

I got a call from D films for the two songs ‘Premakumari’ and ‘Sukumari’. I accepted the offer to experience working in another regional industry. Especially I like the collaboration of the artists from the two neighboring states. I like the treatment of the two units of my two Odia songs. I have made some great memories working for the projects, the directors Santosh and Raja D and my co-actors.

In fact I am getting more music video offers from Odisha now and surprisingly I have also got an offer for doing an Odia serial from Zee Sarthak. I don’t know the language yet, so whenever I get to learn the Odia language properly, I may think about it.

How did ‘Mohini’ come your way?

‘Mohini’ is actually my fifth music video. I started with the song ‘Bagiya Mehke’. I visited my hometown to attend one of my cousin’s marriages. Destiny has other plans, so I couldn’t go back to Mumbai because of the COVID 19 lockdown. Using my experience, I wanted to create something at my native place. When I got a few offers of music videos here, I tried to put my inputs and my conditions to make it look better. That’s how it is. We have not thought of getting such rave reviews but with the dedication of our team and with God’s grace people have shown so much love for the song.

Do you have any plans to go back to Mumbai?

After the lockdown ended, my family members said to me that I have been away from home for a really long time and if everything is going fine here then I should live with them. They have not pressured me to obey them but I felt like I should live here and do something for our own industry. Now I am travelling for work between here and Mumbai.

How and when did you get attracted towards dancing and how has the journey been so far?

I have liked dancing from a very early age, but it was never in my mind that I am going to take it up as my profession. When I was in class 11, just out of curiosity I joined a few of my friends who were going to Mumbai during the summer vacations. There I joined a few dance classes and got an opportunity to dance with big stars of Bollywood like Shahid Kapoor and Bipasha Basu in 2010. And then I started living in Mumbai. I used to stay at Nala Sopara, which is almost 50 kms away from the center of Mumbai. I used to travel in the local train for about 2 hours to reach the shooting sets of the reality shows I was working for.

I started my choreography journey with reality shows like Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa, Nach Baliye, Dance Deewane, Boogie-Woogie, Super Dancer and more. While choreographing different award shows, I got to work with some of the big names of the B-town. While working for the show ‘Dance Deewane’ I got the opportunity to make Govinda and Hrithik Roshan dance to my steps.

Have you got any film offers from the Chhattisgarhi film industry?

Till now I have got 10-12 film offers from here, but I haven’t accepted any. Before I came back here the Chhattisgarhi music video industry was just blooming, and after the success of my songs, people here started telling me that my songs are the reason they started listening to Chhattisgarhi music again. I want to listen to the same thing for my films as well, so I am still waiting for a script that will trigger me as good content. Personally I feel as a regional industry technically we need to improve more. Being an actor it is very difficult to survive here for now.

What is your take on the present trend of acting and content making?

It is bad for the so called stars of the industry, but it’s really very good for the young and upcoming talented actors and other artists to showcase their talent. In dancing we also narrate various stories through our art. So there is acting in dance. I am also planning to join several acting workshops to make my craft better.

How did social media help you?

Social media is a great help for me. It has helped me a lot in connecting with people around the world. Recently I got to know that there is a fan page on my name from Bangladesh. There are more than 18 fan pages on my name. I am happy with the response I am getting through social media.

What is the response from your family now?

I belong to a middle class family and my father runs a small vegetable shop. No one in my family has been in the entertainment industry before me. But somehow I managed to get there and make my own place. My family is very happy with my work and the appreciation I get for that.