Orissa Cinema

Did you know the legendary Bollywood star Mithun Chakraborty is largely responsible for making an Oriya film a runaway hit?

“Ae Jugara Krushna Sudama”, released across Orissa in January, is back at as many as 11 cinema theatres for a second time primarily because of the performance of the Bengali actor, who dazzled Bollywood with his dancing in the 1980s.

Basanta Naik’s Brajaraj Movies has produced A Jugara Krushna Sudama , which features Mithun in a lead role. “People in Orissa have shown extra interest to watch this movie,” a thrilled Naik said.

About eight Oriya films had been released since January, but A Jugara Krushna Sudama was the only one that had been a commercial success, the producer said.

Directed by Hara Patnaik, A Jugara Krushna Sudama is Naik’s 12th Oriya movie. It is the story of two friends, one poor and the other rich. Mithun plays the poor friend while Uttam Mohanty, a top Oriya actor, plays the rich one.

Naik is perhaps the only Oriya film producer who has risked roping in stars from Bollywood and Bengali cinema to add to a movie’s appeal. He had cast Raakhi Gulzar in his film Maa in the 1990s.

“Maa was a super hit at that time. I also introduced Prasenjit, Debashree Roy and Sujit Kumar (from Bengali cinema) before Orissa audiences. However, Mithun’s film has broken all past records,” Naik said.

This is the first time Mithun has played the lead role in an Oriya film. Earlier, he had made a guest appearance in Sahara Jaluchi .

“I saw his guest appearance in Sahara Jaluchi and decided to take him in my movie. He spoke good Oriya,” Naik said.

The experience of working with the star of such Bollywood hits as Disco Dancer was enriching, said the producer.

“We learnt many things from him. Mithun was very punctual and sincere. We had a 28-day schedule of shooting for him but one of the leading stars was ill. Therefore, we had to extend it to 62 days and Mithun cooperated. Looking at the commercial success (of A Jugara Krushna Sudama ), I am planning to dub the film in Bengali and Chattishgari languages,” added Naik.