Odia Legends On Screen

Odia Legends On Screen

The complaint of copy paste cinemas exists in almost every regional industry now. But every state has its own history and culture, which has great stories that are yet to be told. Similarly, Odisha being the ‘Best Kept Secret’ of India, also has great stories of legends, who have contributed for the sake of the motherland.

Except for a few people from the Odia entertainment industry, it is difficult to say that hardly anyone may have thought of making films on them. And that is not anyone’s fault as there are several reasons for it. When it comes to period films, they require proper technology and a high budget. Recently, one of the leading TV channels ‘Star Plus’ released the series ‘Vidrohi’, based on the story of Buxi Jagabandhu.

Vidrohi (Buxi Jagabandhu)

‘Vidrohi’ reveals the never told saga of Buxi (played by Sharad Malhorta) and Warrior Princess Kalyani (played by actress Hemal Dev) for the first time on television. Other cast of the show includes actors like Sulagna Panigrahi, Anang Desai, Chaitrali Gupte, Priya Tandon and Danny Sura. The show is running on Star Plus and Disney+Hotstar from 11th October.

The series features Sharad’s enormous look of Buxi Jagabandhu and showed his fearless portrayal of the strong character.

Sharing his excitement on social media Sharad wrote, “With your continuous love & support, I embark on yet another journey. Here’s presenting to you all Buxi Jagabandhu Bidhyadhar Mohapatra Bhramarbar Ray, coming soon on Star Plus & Disney+Hotstar, Jai Jagganath.”

The Paika Rebellion is the first armed rebellion against the East India Company’s rule in India that took place in 1817. It is considered to be the first Indian armed movement to gain independence, replacing the prevailing view of the first one being the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857.

There are also a few examples where Odia entertainment has tried to present some of Odisha’s great warriors through different projects.

Let’s have a look

Rajguru (Jayi Rajaguru)

One of the popular actors of Ollywood, Chandan Kar, is getting ready to have a great comeback with his upcoming film Rajguru, based on the story of Jayakrushna Rajaguru Mohapatra. The story of a princely-priest by profession at the court of the Khurda kingdom, who revolted against the British Raj. Recently on his birthday, Chandan shared a teaser of the film and announced it publicly.

Sharing his excitement for the project the actor said to My City Links, “Periodic subjects are very rare here in Odisha. Actually, the technology needed for these are very challenging. This journey began when I and one of my friends in Mumbai, who is working on VFX, were discussing making a historical film on the great leader and freedom fighter Jayi Rajaguru. We have done a test shoot for the teaser.  We will try our best to not disappoint our audience. Everything is in the planning phase now and we will start shooting very soon.”

Sahid Raghu Sardar (Raghu Sardar)

Released on 20th August, 2021, Odia film ‘Sahid Raghu Sardar’, narrates the story of Raghu Pattnaik. A native of Barala village in Bayalis Mauja in Cuttack district. Raghu developed a feeling of vengeance against the Britishers for their atrocities on Indians at a very tender age.

Directed by Rajeeb Mohanty, the film features Debashis Patra and Kabya Kiran as lead characters. This is for the first time that Ollywood will have a biopic on a martyr from Odisha.

Debashish said, “There is no lack of stories here in our state. There are many legends like Raghu Sardar whose story should be told on screen. I am blessed to get the opportunity to play the character of an unsung hero.” 

When Raghu was young, he went to Kolkata. After getting a job there, he took many of his fellow villagers to the city and helped them find work. The patriot then formed an association with those Odias in Kolkata to raise a voice against British rule. He was punished several times by the Britishers for his activities and was finally murdered in jail.

Paika Bidroha (Paika Rebellion) 

Odia short film ‘Paika Bidroha’ had earlier created a buzz by winning four State Film Awards in 2018 — Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Editing as well as the Best Film by Jury. Starring great actors like Manoj Mishra as Jayee Rajaguru and Samaresh Routray as the legendary Buxi Jagabandhu, the film by Akshay Parija Productions, brilliantly portrays the great history of Odia Paikas.

‘Paika Bidroha’ was Parija’s long-cherished dream to present the glorious piece of history on screen. In 2016, the veteran producer had announced a period film on Buxi Jagabandhu starring Anubhav Mohanty in the lead role. Titled ‘Buxi Jagabandhu – The Forgotten Legend’, late Manmohan Mahapatra was supposed to be the director. However, the project got shelved.

Explaining the reason, Parija said, “Creating such a huge film needs a very big canvas. So I definitely needed financial support from the government, but I failed to get it. However, we are glad to have created this short film on our unsung hero and are happy with the good response from the viewers. I would love to make this plot on a bigger canvas and in multiple languages, as these days such films are in trend.”