Lord Jagannath’s Unwavering Influence On Ollywood

Lord Jagannath’s Unwavering Influence On Ollywood

Lord Jagannath is worshipped as the lord of the universe but for us Odias, He is one of our own, part of our daily life. In Ollywood too, you can find his presence almost everywhere, in the theme of the films, in their titles, in the song lyrics and dialogues. MCL brings to you 12 such films which are named after Lord Jagannath or are somehow related to the Lord of the Universe.

Jaga Hatare Pagha

The title was used before in another classic Odia film. This film was an blockbuster produced by Tarang Cine Productions. The film stars Anubhav Mohanty and Elina Samantray in lead roles and is directed by Murali Krishna. It is a remake of Marathi film Lai Bhaari. The Kannada song ‘Life is Awesome’ from the movie ‘Male’ was remade in this movie. The film also starred other popular actors like Mahasweta Ray, Ajit Das, Buddhaditya Mohanty and Jhilik Bhattacharya.

Jaga Hatare Pagha

Directed and produced by Mohammad Mohsin, in this film, Bijoy Mohanty’s name is Jagan though the film does not revolve around the Lord. But as the title suggests, whatever happens in the story, takes place because the Lord wants it that way. The film also has stars like Uttam Mohanty, Aparajita Mohanty, Sujata Anand, Hemanta Das, Gloria Mahanty, Debu Bramha and Mamina, and music has been given by the legendary singer and composer Akshaya Mohanty.

Pua Mora Kala Thakura

This Raju Misra directorial film has Bijoy Mohanty and Tandra Roy in lead roles. In the film, Bijoy has played the character named Jagan, who always wears a locket of Lord Jagannath. He also has two black moles on his neck. Eventually his mother, who had been separated from him, identifies him due to the locket and his moles. Popular actors including Isha Bebarta, Debu Bose, Anita Das, Aparajita Mohanty, Uttam Mohanty, Runu Parija, Asit Pati, Hara Patnaik, Jairam Samal, Braja Singh and Dukhiram Swainhas were also seen in the film.

Manika

Starring Tandra Roy and Bijoy Mohanty in lead roles, ‘Manika’ was directed by Asrar Abid. It is a socio-mythological feature film about Manika, a poor girl, who sells curd for a living and hopes to catch a glimpse of Lord Jagannath some day. Moved by her prayers, Lord Jagannath comes down to earth but appears before her as a tired soldier. The film also had actors like Guru Datta, Gita Datta, Gadi and Premanjana in prominent roles.

Hisab Kariba Kalia

Directed by Sumant Dey, the film has Mihir Das and Sriram Panda in lead roles. Veteran actors like Debu Bose, Dukhiram Swain, Baishali Parida, Raimohan Parida, Asit Pati, Jairam Samal, Debu Bramha and Gadi are also there in the film. As the title suggests, the film depicts that whatever good or bad we do in our lives, we are judged by the Lord of the Universe and we have to pay for all the sins we commit in our lives.

Chaka Akhi Sabu  Dekhuchi

The story of this film revolves around Jagannath (played by Uttam Mohanty), who learns that his mother was gangraped by a group of miscreants and decides to seek revenge. If that was not enough, he also takes the responsibility to run a press named ‘Chaka Akhi’ (meaning Jagannath’s eyes), whose editor was murdered by criminals. It was the editor who had taken that promise from Jagannath when he was about to die. While fighting against injustice, Jagannath loses one of his hands, yet he does not give up. Directed by Raju Misra, the film was also written by him. Popular actors like Sriram Panda, Aparajita Mohanty, Asrumochan Mohanty, Bijoy Mohanty, Raimohan Parida, Asit Pati, Hara Patnaik, Jairam Samal and Sujata Anand were seen in other important roles in the film.

Pathara Khasuchhi Bada Deulu

Starring actors like Sujata Anand, Bijoy Mohanty and Siddhanta Mahapatra in lead roles, this film too has been directed by Raju Misra. It has an epic climax where the main lead of the film, BIjoy Mohanty, requests Lord Jagannath to kill the villain of the film (played by Raimohan Parida) and the villain actually dies as a stone falls down from the top portion of a Jagannath Temple.

1985

Kalki Avatar

The holy Odia book ‘Malika’ (written by Achyutananda) says that there will be a Kalki Avatar of Lord Jagannath at the end of this Kaliyug. Director Hara Patnaik has used this in his film ‘Kalki Avatar. Of course, he has not shown Jagannath turning into Kalki. Towards the end, the main lead of the film (played by Siddhant Mohapatra) takes a different getup and with his own gang, tries to destroy all bad people. Actress Rachana Banerjee has been paired opposite Siddhant in this movie. The film also stars other veterans of Ollywood including Uttam Mohanty, Debu Bose, Mihir Das, Namrta Das and Pradyumna Lenka.

Jai Jagannath

Jai Jagannath is a 2007 Indian multilingual mythological film directed by Sabyasachi Mohapatra and released in 15 languages. Besides Odia and Hindi, its dubbed versions were released in English, Bengali, Assamese, Chhattisgarhi, Bhojpuri, Rajasthani, Punjabi, Gujarati, Marathi, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Nepali languages. The story of Jai Jagannath is based on the ancient scripture of Laxmi Puran. The untouchables were not allowed to pray, worship and carry out rituals of the Lord in ancient ages. Sriya, one of the important characters in this story, dares to pray and worship the Lord and wins over the support of Goddess Lakshmi. The real drama begins when Lakshmi is separated from Lord Jagannath at the behest of his brother Balram (Balabhadra) because she ends discrimination on earth by encouraging even untouchables to conduct rituals of the Lord. Actors like Sritam Das, Pintu Nanda and Jyoti Mishra were seen in lead roles in the film and the music was composed by legendary music composer Akshaya Mohanty.

Bahudibe Mora Jaga Balia

This film is the remake of the super hit Bollywood film ‘Karan Arjun’. Director Sabyasachi Mohapatra has very well transformed it into an ‘Odia’ version. While in ‘Karan Arjun’, the mother of both the brothers was seen worshipping Goddess Kali, in this film, the mother (played by Anita Das) is seen worshipping Lord Jagannath. Starring Siddhanta Mahapatra and Sritam Das in lead roles, actress Jyoti Mishra and Usasi Misra were cast opposite them in the movie. Starring other actors like Pintu Nanda, Hara Patnaik, Sarat Pujari, Naina Das, Illu Banerjee and Snigdha Mohanty, the film offered a surprise package to the audience in the form of Shakti Kapoor who played the main villain character in the film.

Tu Thile Mo Dara Kahaku

This film delved into the practice of black magic and shows how a family gets rid of it with the miracles of Lord Jagannath. Directed by Dilip Panda, the story was written by Ajit Misra. Starring Buddhaditya Mohanty and Varsha Priyadarshini in lead roles, the film also stars Mahasweta Roy, Raimohan Parida and Rabi Nanda.

Sakhi Rakhi Ae Singha Duara

This Sanjay Nayak directorial movie is based on the changing relationship between two families. Bijoy Mohanty and Uttam Mohanty play the role of two intimate friends whose families are also very close to each other. Both the families believe Lord Jagannath is a witness to their bonding. With the progress of the story, friends turn into enemies and how they unite again is what the story is all about. Interestingly, real life wives Tandra Roy and Aparajita Mohanty of Bijoy and Uttam respectively have played their reel wives in this film. The film also stars actors like Siddhanta Mahapatra, Mama Mishra, Mihir Das and Kuna Tripathy.

Baisi Pahache Kheliba Mina

Sometime during 2011, a rumour was spread that by the end of 2012, Kaliyug will come to an end and everything will be destroyed. Probably, that is the reason, director Sanjay Nayak made this film, which showcased the scene during the end of Kaliyug, as per the holy Odia book ‘Malika’ (written by Achyutananda). Sanjay himself was the writer of the film. The film stars Bijoy Mohanty, Mihir Das, Priya Choudhury, Poonam Mishra, Priyanka Mahapatra, Biju Badajena and Debu Bramha.