Interview: Chakradhar Sahu

Source Dharitri Rabibar 23rd July 2010

There have been many directors in oriya film industry who have tried to popularise art films as mainstream cinema.Chakradhara sahu is one among them.After graduating from FTTI,Pune in Film Editing he went to mumbai and spent a couple of years there.Then he returne to orissa with a dream of making it big here.He started his career with the film "Nila Mastrani" in the year 1996.After sensing that art films are not commercially viable he turned towards commercial films.His first commercial film Tumaku Paruni Ta bhuli was released in the year 2008 and was a box ofice success.After a gap of 3 years he is ready with his next project "kebe Tume nahan Kebe mu nahin".

Excerpts from the interview.

What was your experince with your first commercial film "Tumaku Paruni ta bhuli" ?
I came to orissa to make some good film here.I was even aware of the quality of films and teqniques used in filmmaking of the industry at that time.Since i had studied films ,i thought i can make better films in terms of quality and presentation.Tumaku paruni ta bhuli was made keeping in mind the interest of the audience.The film was commercially successful and i got noticed for my work.Critics appreciated it and accepted the film.So overall speaking,i was 60% satisfied.

Your first film was Nila mastrani,whic was an art film .Why did you do commercial films ?
When you study films in some film institute you are trained for all kinds of films.You are made capable of making all kinds of cinema.When producer Rabisankar Rath first approaced me with the story of Nilam mastarni,i could nor refuse his offer.He had full faith on me that i could give hundred percent justice to the subject.So i did the film.But in our country there is no market for offbeat films.If you make a film there is no guarantee that you can recover the cost of the investment.Nobody is ready to invest on art films whose sucess fully depend uon the international market,which in our case is very rare.But what i belive that art and commercial films can coexist and we can give commercial blend to art films.

Tumaku paruni ta bhuli came in 2008 and three years have passed by.Why did you remain silent for these period.
yes… i did not make any films in these three years.Now the number of films have gone up and there is so much competition.Most of them are making loss of money due to it.So i did not want to hurry and and make afool of me.I was busy with my script and looking for a good opprtunity and right time.

How is this film different from your other films ?
With my past experince i was aware that it is very hard to recover your money unless the film is really good.The film production and marketing srategy here is very different from other states.Thats why i have decided to make a film on minimum budget.I have lots of friend in mumbai,for example i know the whole Three idiots team.I can get a lot of support from them.So in terms of production quality i can make a better film.

You First film Nila mastarni was a literary adaption of novel Nila mastarni.Why dont you choose any other classics for your commercial projects.
We can make commercial films adapting classics.But in current market situation it is not a safe option.There are many reasons for this.One reason is that the current audience will not accept classics.Mainly the younger generation which forms the major percentage of the audience will reject it.The upper middle class and urban educated mass has always stayed aloof from oriya cinema.There should be a sincere effort to bring back these people back to cinema halls.

A lot of film makers are copying other regional films..and this has became a trend in the industry.What is your opinion on this?
Copying other language films is not a crime.What filmmakers lack here is the sincereity and originality while lifting the films.The films should not be copied frame to frame.Thats why all the superhit film in other languages when copied into oriya are major flops.The story should be modified and characters should be moulded such that they are identifiable to our own culture.The preproduction work is neglected here.This is an important process of film making and should be taken seroiusly.

Please say something about the film .
All i can reveal is that this is a family drama film which has elements of humour and suspence.All in all the central theme is a love story.


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