3 Odias, ‘Stree- 2’, 1 Aim: Cinema

3 Odias, ‘Stree- 2’, 1 Aim: Cinema

After the magnanimous success of ‘Stree’, which was released in 2018,  ‘Stree 2’, featuring Shraddha Kapoor, Rajkummar Rao, Pankaj Tripathi, Aparshakti Khurana, and Abhishek Banerjee, hit theatres on Independence Day, August 15.  The box office success of "Stree 2" is remarkable, with the film smashing records and its earnings, just as the prequel. Industry reports suggest that the movie could become the year's biggest box office opener with an expected first-day haul of over Rs 40 crore. Produced by Dinesh Vijan and Jyoti Deshpande under Maddock Films and Jio Studios the film’s team also includes three efficient and talented Odias in it. Meet associate editor Madhubrata Mohanty, foley artist Varun Visoi and focus puller Saroj Kumar Sahoo.

Madhubrata Mohanty (Associate Editor)

During the shooting of ‘Stree 2’, Madhu was on the sets to edit the action sequences on the spot He said to My City Links, “It’s always fun and exciting to watch such brilliant artists performing live in front of you. The action director & director both wanted to see if the overall action is working or not & if they want to improvise anything will that work or not. The pre-production was great & the action scenes they had rehearsed so well that it was going smoothly. The action team had already made the action scenes on storyboard sketches which helped me a lot during editing.”

Madhubrata, a native of Bhubaneswar and an alumna of BPFTIO (Biju Patnaik Film & Television Institute of Odisha) with a diploma in film and video editing, started working part-time as an assistant editor while he was studying at the film school. As an assistant editor, he worked on his first Odia film, Meemansa, with senior editor Rajesh Dash.
“After finishing my diploma, I came to Mumbai in search of projects. I first got a documentary project titled ‘Son Rise' with editor Hemanti Sarkar as an assistant editor, and she referred me to another documentary project titled ‘Amoli’. Luckily, both projects won National Awards. Then, after doing a number of music videos, short films, and many more, I got the opportunity to work as a post-production assistant for the film ‘Bose: Dead/Alive’. And the list goes on,” added Madhubrata.

Madhubrata has a long list of projects to his credit, including ‘Mind the Malhotras’, ‘Dream Girl’, ‘Bala’, ‘Shiddat’, ‘Pippa’, ‘My Father's Doctor’, ‘Hoshdar’, ‘Modi Ji Ki Beti’, ‘Ishq Express’, ‘Raavi’, ‘Roohi’, ‘Sonsi (Shadow Bird)’, ‘Virgin Bhanupriya’, and many more.
For ‘Stree 2’, Madhubrata also assisted Hemanti Sarkar. According to him, the editing workflow was a bit tougher than that of other films. The climax, which was approximately 30 minutes long, was completely shot on a blue screen chroma with CG shots. Adding more about it, Madhubrata stated, “We edited that climax first and sent it to the VFX team. The main VFX company was in London, and their branch was in Hyderabad. Overall, they had a pipeline procedure for working on VFX shots; it was a new and challenging experience for me. In some complete CG shots, we sketched on paper and used the sketch as a reference for timing. For example, you may have seen the bhediya jumping and attacking heads. Then, the VFX team sent the grayscale model of that timing, which we placed on the edit timeline and gave feedback on before they sent the correct version. We sent edits for VFX in January 2024, and by April, they started sending shots to see if the edit was working or not. Until August 13, we worked on the edit and sound; VFX shots were coming in, and I was putting them on the timeline and showing them to the director. In May, we started sound, music, and mixing work. The sound and music were fully dependent on VFX shots. Every Monday, I had to give the full film to all departments to work on the updated VFX shots. Simultaneously, the director was giving feedback on VFX shots—what was working and what wasn’t. I had to keep records of more than 1,000 VFX shots, including details like the status of each shot, whether it was updated on the edit timeline, and whether all reels were given to the sound and music departments. From mid-June, every department was working day and night, and the result is now in theatres. Our whole team was so glad because people are loving all our efforts.”

Inspired by one of his friend's brothers, he started by learning graphic design. Then, he got to know about video editing and developed a curiosity about how videos and photos come together with effects and all. Though initially interested in wedding video editing, he learned about BPFTIO from his uncle Deepak Das, who worked as a director at Doordarshan, SIET, and on many Odisha government awareness and educational videos. So, he joined the diploma program with a specialisation in editing at BPFTIO.

Technology and storytelling styles have evolved significantly. After the COVID period, everyone wanted something new and different. Based on the audience's requirements, we are developing ourselves to meet their tastes in entertainment. “Southern films are rooted in their culture. Human nature always desires different kinds of tastes in all aspects. There was a time when people liked all action or glamorous films. After some time, they got bored, and that was when they found a few offbeat short films and some South films shot on real locations, with real costumes and real people. That's how people got connected to the real-life world from the glamorous world shown in films. It's not that Bollywood didn't make those kinds of films, but in comparison, they made more commercial films. Even some Bollywood films have been highly appreciated in recent days, you know,” Madhu signed off.

Varun Visoi (Foley Artist)

In 2018, when ‘Stree’ was released, the foley part was done in Hollywood. Varun was working at Aradhana Studio as a foley sound recordist then. He loved the film, but he never thought that he’d work on its sequel in the future. Adding more about it, he said, “The well-known sound recordist Kingshuk Moran knew me before, as we had worked together on films like ‘Uri’, ‘Runway 34’, ‘Bajirao Mastani’, and ‘Gadar 2’. So he offered me ‘Stree 2’. In our initial meetings, we were clear in our minds that we would make the sequel even better than the first part. I gave my best, and it took us one and a half months to complete it. The special effect we needed for Sarkata was a bit challenging, as we needed to create the effect that a stale body would produce while moving during the action scenes. We experimented a lot for that. For example, we squeezed a sack soaked with dense oil, squeezed wet cotton soaked with mud, and many more.”

A native of Daringbadi, Kandhamal district of Odisha, Varun Visoi started watching Hindi films from a tender age with his movie-buff father. Like his father, Varun was also good at tailoring. From his childhood, he always used to wonder when he would grow up, and after his college, he’d move to Mumbai to work in the film industry. But destiny had other plans. Varun’s elder brother had left home, and nobody had any clue where he was then (two years ago, he returned home after 25 years). His elder sister was studying in Bhubaneswar. In the meantime, he also lost his father when he was in 8th grade, and he took the entire burden of his home.

“I couldn’t think of shifting to Mumbai then and started working in small tailoring shops. Family problems led me to stop my studies in the 10th standard pretest. I had high hopes deep in my mind, and I used to save a little money for that. During this time, I sometimes tried to convince my mother to let me go to Mumbai to try my luck, but with the emotional bond I shared with my mother, she couldn’t let me leave home. After a few years of requests, I finally succeeded in convincing my mother on December 31, 2001, and left home for Mumbai on January 1, 2002.”

He was completely clueless, and the only thing he knew was that Andheri is the place in Mumbai where film-related activities happen. So he took an auto-rickshaw and headed towards Andheri. On the way, he saw a place named Natraj Studio. He took a U-turn and asked the gatekeepers if there was any work for him there.

“I sat there for about four hours, and again the watchman came to me and asked me whether he could trust me or not. I assured them, and then they took me to the canteen inside the studio. The canteen used to supply food to the film units working in different locations of Mumbai. So I started working there in the canteen. I felt like I had taken my first step to get into the industry. In the evening, I called one of my friend’s houses and told him to inform my mother that I had got my first job in the film industry and I was all fine,” he added.

He started making new friends from the industry, and during this time, actor Nasir Khan (Johnny Walker’s son) got to know him and, being impressed with his behaviour, took him to his home, where he worked for about six months. He left the job, feeling he was getting away from his developing connections. So again, he joined the canteen. There, he was assigned to travel to Aradhana Sound Service Studio for food supply. The manager of the studio offered him the job of an office boy, and he accepted it in 2005.

He said, “Along with the office work, I also started learning sound recording and other software from Vijay Kumar and Vikram (who used to work there as recordists). There were four departments: Recording, Dubbing, Mixing, and Foley. In 2008, I was promoted to the Foley department as a recordist. My senior, Vijay Kumar, suggested my name as his replacement, and he moved to another studio. I worked there from 2008 to 2022 with senior legendary foley artists like Karnail Singh Virdi, Rajendra Gupta, and Sajjan Chowdhary. All of them have made great contributions to my career. I learned the technique from them. Then I started taking some individual assignments and worked by creating a small studio in my home. Tushar Jena and Abinash Mishra were the sound recordists of the Odia film ‘Daman’. I knew them before, so they offered me to work on Daman as a foley artist, and we did it.”

Varun, who is settled in Mumbai with his wife and two daughters, now runs his own foley studio named ‘Foley Walkers India’ along with his two assistant foley artists, Siba Sambhu Digal and Sikhestra Digal. Being inclined towards music, Varun has learned classical singing at Four Bungalows, and he is a big fan of legendary Odia singers like Akshay Mohanty, Bhikari Bal, and Arabinda Muduli.

While talking about the process of foley sound making, which many people are still not aware of, he said, “For example, if a metal flower vase is being broken in a scene, they actually use an artificial vase made of softer materials for safety purposes. So the sound will not suit it. It is our job as foley artists to create that exact sound effect when a metal vase breaks. We watch the entire film and list down the props we need to create the sound effect. Then, after gathering all the props, we start creating foley sound for each and every single scene. Attending film discussions and meetings with my seniors for about 22 years helped me a lot in learning the way we communicate with the maker or producer.”

As a foley recordist, Varun has completed about 250 films in different languages. Starting from his debut Hindi film ‘Sarkar Raj’, his huge list of films as a foley sound recordist includes films like  ‘3 Idiots’, ‘Bajirao Mastani’, ‘Padmavat’, ‘Pk’, ‘Super 30’, ‘Uri’, ‘Brahmastra’, ‘Tanu weds Manu’, ‘Andhadhun’ and many more.

Although he has worked as a foley artist in few other short films before but when it comes to feature films, starting from the Odia film ‘Daman’, he has worked for projects like ‘Gadar 2’, ‘Bastar’, ‘Four More Shorts’, ‘Lakhot’, ‘Sajna Shinde Viral Video’, ‘Special Ops 2.0’, ‘Hack’, ‘Jehanabad’, ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3’, ‘Kuhudi’, ‘Bigul’, ‘Karma’ and many more.

“I have never planned anything. I am just going with the flow. I just had one dream and aim that I want to work in the film industry, which fortunately, I am doing now. I had never thought of being a foley artist. I have plans to direct a film, maybe I can do that in the near future,” signed off Varun.

Saroj Kumar Sahoo (Focus Puller)

“The experience of working for ‘Stree 2’ was amazing. When you get to work with such brilliant actors like Rajkumar, Aparshakti, Shraddha, Abhishek and Pankaj Tripathi, you actually don’t feel like working. They had even clapped for me on the sets witnessing my skills in focus pulling. We shot this film in dark places during the night at a very small village called Chanderi in Bhopal. We completed the shoot in 65 days and each and every member of the filmmaking team were very serious about their  work. We had great fun on the sets and we enjoyed each and every moment of it.” shared focus puller Saroj Kumar Sahoo.

Saroj, who has earlier worked in Odia films like ‘Raja Jhia Sange Heigala Bhaba’, ‘Parshuram’, ‘Daha Balunga’ and many more, gained a liking for shooting films after he witnessed an unknown project filming near Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar. Youngest in the family of two brothers and one sister, he was not efficient in studies from a tender age. He was more interested in cricket and films instead. Hailing from Jahangirpur, Cuttack, he entered into filming in the year 2004 through a local camera vendor ‘Prabhat lights’.

In the year 2012, Saroj shifted to Mumbai with the help of Shankar Barik, whom he knew before while working for the Odia film ‘Parsuram’. He said, “There are many of my friends in Mumbai but nobody helped me during that phase of my life. Shankar let me stay with him at his place. Whatever I have achieved I have achieved with my own efforts. There is no god father for me in the industry as such.”

During the shoot of Varun Dhawan starrer 'Bhediya', there was a lot of focus issue happening so the cinematographer, Jishnu Bhattacharjee, was not happy at all. He suggested Saroj’s for the job. At the same time Saroj was busy shooting ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2’. He said, “During that period the hero of ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2’, Kartik Aryan, got covid. So the shoot had to be paused. That’s the time when I agreed for ‘Bhediya’. I was called by Maddock Films and I joined them in Arunachal Pradesh. The shooting was tough as we were shooting mainly at night. It was raining mostly in those days. I remember while shooting in a jungle there, along with rain water, some leeches used to fall on us and that was really painful.”

Saroj’s credit list includes projects like ‘Tribhuvan Mishra CA Topper’, ‘Teri Baton mein Uljha jiya’, ‘Yodha’, ‘Bhediya’, ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2’, ‘Dhamaka’, ‘Chehre’, ‘Chhalaang’, ‘Baaghi 3’, ‘Hume Tumse Pyaar Kitna’, ‘Kabir Singh’, ‘Bharat’, ‘Student of the Year 2’, ‘Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi’, ‘Batti Gul Meter Chalu’, ‘Satyameva Jayate’, ‘Tiger Zinda Hai’, ‘Tumhari Sulu’, ‘Bhoomi’, ‘Toilet: A Love Story’, ‘Meri Pyaari Bindu’, ‘Jagga Jasoos’, ‘Happy Bhaag Jayegi’, ‘Rustom’, ‘Royal Bengal Rahasya’, ’Kuch Kuch Locha Hai’, ‘Welcome Back’, ‘Ranbanka’ and many more.

Saroj feels If you know the job then you will get enough work. Sharing one of his recent experiences with Saif Ali Khan he said, “I was working for an upcoming film titled ‘Jewel Thief’ starring Saif Ali Khan. After 2 days of shooting Saif asked the crew who is the focus puller and came to me after knowing and asked me why I am not instructing him to stand in the right position or anything while shooting. I just said that there was no need and I didn't want to disturb him while he was doing a scene. He appreciated my efforts a lot.” He signed off saying, “ My love for cinema will never fade away. So I am always pushing myself harder to give the best output.”