Being A Good Actor Itself Is Difficult In Odisha, Says Pintu Nanda

Being A Good Actor Itself Is Difficult In Odisha, Says Pintu Nanda

He is the face of the most popular album from the 90s, ‘Ae Gaura’. The song, back in the day, catapulted him to instant fame so much so that he continues to be identified with it even till date. Proving his versatility through his performance in alPintubums, films and serials, the ‘Gaura of Ollywood’ as he is popularly known, actor Pintu Nanda is back on the screen with his latest film ‘Love Express’ which released on December 28, 2018.

The 43-year-old actor has more than 150 Odia films to his credit including ‘I Love You’, ‘Bahudibe Mo Jaga Balia’, ‘Sathire’, ‘Prema Rutu Asila Re’, ‘Dosti’, ‘Love Master’, ‘Sanju Sanjana’, ‘Nandini I Love You’ among others and he continues to be one of the best character actors of the industry.

Hailing from Jagatsinghpur, Nanda has three state awards to his credit along with several other accolades. He had received widespread appreciation for his performance in the internationally acclaimed film ‘Jai Jagannath’ which released worldwide in more than 16 languages.

My City Links caught up with the versatile actor for a quick interview. Excerpts –

Tell Us More About Your Role In ‘Love Express’.

I am playing the role of an affectionate father who is very possessive about his daughter. It’s a challenging role for me as I am still very childlike in real life. I am essaying the role of a father in my next film ‘Pikuli Kie’ as well. There comes a time when an actor has to transform his regular image on screen. My elder son is 12 years old now and since Sunmeera, who plays my daughter in the film, is 16-17 years old, she is like my daughter. So it’s easy that way.How Did You Come To Work In The Album ‘Ae Gaura’?

I was not interested in working in albums then as the standard was not so good then. I was dubbing for the film ‘Jai Jagannath’ when producer Sita Sir (Sitaram Agarwal) said that the song seems to have been written for me and convinced me to do it. At the same time I was playing the lead role in the serial ‘Bhagya Bidhata’. After that I got to play more comedy characters. Even kids used to call me Gaura and the craze was so intense then that they would not eat without watching the video. Some non Odia people would also address me as Gaura.

What Kind Of Reaction Did Your Family Have Towards Your Career?

I started my career from films and then moved on to TV shows. Albums came in later. ‘Biswaprakash’ was my debut movie, which released in 1996. Then I got the chance to act in a serial called ‘I Love You’ on Doordarshan. When ETV came to Odisha, I again played the lead role in many of its TV shows. I became an actor quite accidentally. I was just playing in a field when director Choudhury Bikash Das called me up and asked if I would act in the show ‘I Love You’.  I had done several mythological plays as a child which made me confident enough. I met director Susanta Mishra and got the chance to act in his directorial film ‘Biswaprakash’.

We are two brothers and one sister and I am the youngest one. My elder brother Surmani Abhiram Nanda is a famous flute player and also the assistant of the legendry flute player Hariprasad Chaurasia. I was a more than an average student and have a doctorate in electro homeopathy. My family members are broad-minded and they have always given me the freedom to do whatever I want. My elder brother was the biggest supporter. Before ETV came in, we used to carry our costumes for shoot. Practically it was not possible to buy so many clothes. So, I used to wear my brother’s clothes a lot of times while

shooting.

Tell Us Some Interesting Facts About The Film ‘Jai Jagannath’.

Coincidentally, we began shooting for ‘Jai Jagannath’ on June 3, 2004 and my wedding was fixed on June 30 the same year. I was selected for the role of ‘Jagannath’ and the photoshoot had also been done in that get up. Back in the day, Khokabhai (Akhaya Mohanty) used to sit with us, and we discussed how Jagannath’s smile should be. In fact, that film was Khokabhai’s last. They searched for another actor to play Balabhadra but failed and I was asked to play Balabhadra. But then, they had to find another actor for the role of Jagannath. And finallySritam Bhai was selected and we became the best pair as Jagannath and Balabhadra. I had to put on weight for the role. We watched our premiers at different places with big-wigs like Shahrukh Khan, Mani Ratnam and so on. That was definitely a great learning process. We are really blessed. Some people even started worshipping us at the beach when we were in the get-up. All the actors, including the crew, consumed vegetarian food during the shoot of the film.How Did You Meet Your Wife?

My wife is an architect. I met her at a petrol pump first. Gradually, we started liking each other and fell in love. Of course, we are happily married now and have two sons.

What Do You Feel About The Decline In Odia movie audiences?

Forget about Bhubaneswar or Cuttack, if we go back to our native places, we would understand that the state of cinema halls is so critical that you cannot watch a 3 hour film with your family there. So, the first and the main problem is obviously the number and the present state of cinema halls. Remakes and blatant copy-pasting is another problem for the industry. People have become smarter, and it is the digital era where you can’t cheat your audience. We actors work in such films for our livelihood, because we have no other choices.

I feel the frontline filmmakers should come forward, take risks and provide audience with a different taste. Right now, we supporting character actors have less importance compared to lead actors. So those actors also should take steps to work on an original script. There should be some guidelines on who can be a director and on what terms. We have all types of associations of directors, actors, technicians and so on. However, these associations have no common forum and hence, we are unable to work together.What Is The One Major Challenge For An Actor?

Being a good actor itself is difficult in Odisha. I remember a senior director, whom I will not name, had once asked me if I wanted to become an actor or a hero (chuckles). We have zero exposure here and I admit it. I am planning to go to Mumbai for a few months every year to attain more experience in acting and filmmaking.

Any Favourite Character Of Yours That You Have Loved To Play On Screen?

I am completely dissatisfied with my acting career. I believe no director has extracted the best out of me yet. I can go to any extent to justify my character. I want to play iconic roles but as we are copying other films, there is no such scope to experiment in acting.