“My Self Confidence And Patience Have Landed Me Here.”- Dipanwit Dashmohapatra

“My Self Confidence And Patience Have Landed Me Here.”- Dipanwit Dashmohapatra

While the Odia entertainment industry is growing now with full speed, definitely the budding talents are the most important factors of this new journey towards success. We all have seen a demand for natural actors in the national scene after the entry of OTTs. After covid, the digital revolution has happened rapidly in the field of entertainment. Meet Dipanwit Dashmohapatra, one of those budding talents who has been a part of the three Odia films Adieu Godard, DAMaN and Pratikshya which have been the talk of the town now.

Hailing from Balasore, Dipanwit has keen interest in acting. This interest led him to join the dramatic society during his engineering days in Bhubaneswar. In 2015, he started watching plays and joined several acting workshop in the Uttar Purush Theatre group. Later on he started doing theater plays. Being a trained actor, Dipanwit started from music videos and short films. He got noticed for the first time in the popular web-series Rabana Podi, and now he is the first choice of young filmmakers. Recently he was seen playing the lead role in the film Pratikshya, which got multiple recognitions and Anupam Kher announced to produce it in Hindi at the 53rd edition of International Film Festival of India (IFFI)-2022 in Goa.

My City Links caught up with the actor for an exclusive interview, here are the excerpts.

Tell us about your two recent films Pratikshya and Daman, which have been the talk of the town. How did you get these two films in your bucket?

My first work with Technoartz Production was a web-series. During that time they were planning to make Pratikshya. They had not finalized the protagonist and after watching the raw clips of the web-series our director Anupam Patnaik suggested that I audition for the role. After the screen test I was selected. We shot it in 2019 actually. Later DAMaN came into the scene. One of the directors of Daman, Debi bhai had seen Rabana Podi and he liked my work. So he called me for DAMaN and my character had been fixed already.

Most of the actors wish to work in Hindi films once. Do you wish the same, as your film DAMaN is going to be released in Hindi soon?

While shooting DAMaN, I prepared myself within 10 days by practicing the local language and the body language. So there I realized the importance of language and the variations we have. Not only Hindi, I want to act in different regional language films to experience more. I have it on my mind for the future, not now.

Audiences love your character Sanjay in Pratikshya. Most of the people related to it. How do you relate with it?

After I completed my engineering in 2017, I had gone through the same problems and difficulties till 2019. So going to that zone has helped me play the character in Pratikshya.

Your father is a former lecturer. Have you faced any pressure from your family to pursue studies?

My family is very supportive of me as I have never neglected my studies. My Father’s elder brother Ajit Dashmohapatra is a drama writer inheriting it from former Minister Jadunath Dashmohapatra. So art was always there in my family but nobody had ever tried acting. Although I appeared in a few campus placement interviews, later I became more inclined towards acting. So I never tried for a job again and focused on acting only. I wanted formal training at NSD or FTII, so my family agreed with me as they know I am going for professional training. I have tried it three times, but unfortunately I couldn’t get through.

Who are you acting gurus?

Abhinna Routray is my primary guru in acting, while I was with Uttara Purush. Now I am with the Jivan Rekha theater group. I have attended acting workshops by veteran actors like Choudhury Jayaprakash Das, which has helped me a lot in making my craft better. I had never thought of making a career out of my passion or getting huge success. I only followed my passion and enjoyed doing it.

Tell us about your first break.

Director Sidharth Gautam and writer Sumit Panda were my seniors at my college. I started working with them during those days in a few music videos like Prajapati and He Phaguna. I auditioned for Amartya Bhattacharyya’s film ‘Khyanika’ in 2015, which was my first feature film. Then I got the opportunity to act in the web-series Rabana Podi with BiraJ Rath which was released in 2016.

You are very selective about your work. How tough has it been?

I have rejected a lot of opportunities as I was not getting proper work, but theater was a relief for me as I was able to continue doing what I love doing. People have taken my honest feedback negatively and hated me for the same. After Daman I got more than 5 film offers but I have rejected all of them for the same reason. I have never dreamed of being a hero, rather I prefer being a part of a good film.

What has kept you motivated and your hunger for good work alive?

My self confidence and patience have landed me where I am today.

Who are the actors you look up to?

Daniel Davis, Irrfan Khan and Manoj Bajpayee are the actors whom I enjoy watching.

What is your next film to be released soon?

Indradhanu is my next film scheduled to release in February 2023. This film consists of 7 stories and I am part of one of them.

Do you have any message for aspiring actors who look up to you now?

Theater and films are two different mediums. So we have to be technically sound to perform accordingly. Don’t lose your hope, just focus and work hard.