Rooted in Reality: Bara Badhu Emerges as a Landmark Odia Film

Rooted in Reality: Bara Badhu Emerges as a Landmark Odia Film

In a world driven by relentless ambition, where most of us are constantly chasing success and higher aspirations, there are still many who struggle simply to survive. Their dreams may appear small from the outside, yet for them, these modest aspirations define their entire existence. This poignant reality forms the foundation of the recently released Odia film Bara Badhu. Written and directed by Beeswaranjan Pradhan, the film beautifully captures the essence of rural life in Odisha, portraying the genuine struggles of ordinary people while also reflecting the socio-political challenges they face within a deeply stereotyped social environment.

Along with other actors, the film’s major cast includes actors like Sailendra Samantaray, Shivani Sangita, Suryamayee Mahapatra, Hara Rath, Jayashree Sarangi, Subhasis Sharma and Bhaswati Basu. Released on February 13 during Valentine’s week, Bara Badhu has steadily built a strong buzz among audiences. The response since its premiere has been remarkable, with viewers taking to different platforms to praise the film. Many see it as a refreshing shift in Odia cinema, applauding its heartfelt storytelling and convincing performances. By highlighting the value of human connection and mutual understanding, Bara Badhu has managed to touch a chord with audiences, sparking conversations on social media and receiving praise from critics as well as viewers.

The portrayal of love, family struggles, and the challenges of unemployment resonates deeply with the audience, evoking a range of emotions. The entire team behind the film, including producer Sushil Kumar Mishra and director Bishwaranjan, has received widespread acclaim for their work. The film's success has led to special midnight shows in various locations, and fans continue to request more screenings. With a high IMDB rating of 8.9, Bara Badhu has proven to be a success story, both commercially and critically, leaving a lasting impact on Odia cinema.

“Films are always the director’s medium, I simply followed what my director wanted.”: Hara Rath

Actor Hara Rath played the character of Bipin, a village outlaw, who has connections in every field and can attempt to do the impossible in the film. His character has been loved by the viewers and kept every face smiling at the theatres. He said, “The director told me not to cut my hair, organise or dye. He just wanted to experiment on his own thoughts. Films are always director's medium, so I have just followed what my director wanted me to do. But yes there are few improvisations too which I have made without harming the gist of a scene. For example, lines like ‘Aji kali ka pila agyan’ or ‘Gadi ghoda katha kana kahi haba?’.”

“It’s completely a team effort. I feel along with my director and my co-actors' collaboration, whatever I have done somehow touched the hearts of the audiences. This is one of the films which made me realise that I am an artist. There is no single person from whom I have heard a negative narrative about the character I have played. If you are honest to your work, then definitely it will reflect. There was a time when the director used to work hard to convince the actors and the technicians as well. But I have told him earlier that after the release of this film the actors and technicians will be after you to get work,” he added.

“When people say they didn’t find Sivani in the film but only Suman, that is the biggest success for an actor.”: Sivani Sangita

Paired with Sailendra Samantaray, Sivani Sangita was seen playing the character Suman in the film. When asked about the no makeup look and the innocence she showed up with her character, she said, “I am always less concerned about my looks whenever I am choosing a subject to work on. It’s only the director’s decision. For example I have used a 5 times lower shade of my original skin colour for my upcoming Odia film ‘The Millet Diary’. For this film I have used the most minimal makeup, which has been very well captured by the DOP and in the post production process.”

“When I first got this script, after going through it once I said yes. Although it has never happened to me, I have seen my friends struggling for government jobs and all. But I would like to mention here the character Suman , which I have played, has been completely created by the director’s vision. That’s the reason may be the audience saying that they didn’t find Sivani anywhere in the film except Suman. There is no other discussion rather than the work on the sets. Due to Bara Badhu the standards have been set so far that we need to work really hard to match the same. As actors we should now be aware of the standard of work that we are going to choose in the near future. I am very much thankful to the makers and the director of this movie that they felt that I could do it and offered me to act in this film,” she added while sharing more about the success of the film.

“When the captain of the ship has a clear vision, it becomes easier for the actors to bring the character alive.”: Sailendra Samantaray

Sailendra believes when the work we are doing and being appreciated by the audience is the greatest achievement for any actor or technician. He said, “If they connect with the work we do then they connect with us. The success of my character goes to the whole team, especially the director who was very clear about his vision. So when the vision of the captain of the ship is clear it becomes easy for the actors. After the pre-production when the film goes on to the shooting floor the character becomes completely of the actor’s. So now I know Biju more than the makers. So then it becomes completely my responsibility to act accordingly. We used to leave ourselves at the hotel rooms and became completely the actors on the shooting floor.”

“These are few requests form the artist and audience fraternity to the producers that, firstly before making a film make sure you give the maximum remuneration to the director, then only they can seamlessly invest more than 9 months in their script. Because the financial pressure in the director's mind can ruin the subject. Secondly when we are talking about a subject of a particular region all the cast and crew at least live there for more than a week before the shoot starts to understand the environment, tiny nuances to act accordingly. Third the auditions should be taken for tiny to tiny characters played in the film. Fourth, the focus should be more on  the pre-production rather than the post-production. Last but not the least, if we are making a film then sync sound is a must for the most engaging and realistic feel. Because for actors when they come to the dubbing studio after six months of editing, the film becomes old as they may have done two more films in these six months, so they can’t match the same emotion of the dialogue,” he added a request note for the makers.

“This character has given me back the love and affection from the audience that I had always longed for.”- Subhashis Sharma
Actor Subhashis Sharma, popularly regarded as the style icon of Ollywood, portrays the character of Sukla in Bara Badhu. In the film, he plays a village youth who works as a daily wage labourer in Surat. Departing from his usual on-screen image, where he is often seen in stylish and glamorous roles, Subhashis appears in a completely different avatar here. Dressed in simple village attire and embodying the life of an ordinary rural boy, he brings a refreshing realism to the character.

He said, “Although I have been receiving love from my audience for many years as an actor, I must admit that for the past two years I have consciously tried to prioritise good scripts and a strong team above everything else. In fact, I have walked away from more than ten films during this time for the very same reason. For me, it has been a challenge that I willingly chose to accept. When I came across a team led by Beeswaranjan sir, along with the dedicated cast and crew of Bara Badhu, I was ready to embrace that challenge and bring the character of Sukla to life. I am truly overwhelmed by the response the audience has shown towards this role. After a long gap, this character has given me back the love and affection from the audience that I had always longed for.”

“It took almost three years to complete the script, I wanted to portray the real struggles of rural Odisha with honesty.”: Beeswaranjan Pradhan 

The director of the film Beeswaranjan Pradhan, who hails from Athmalik, Angul have seen these real life stories near his village, which ultimately inspired him to make this film. Started form tely- serial, then the turning point came into his life when he started assisting Gajraj Rao in ad films. He said, “I worked with him for 5 years when I learned the nuance of acting with actors, production design, costume, look pallet and many more things. After assisting him for more than 200 ads, I as an individual director directed more than 100 ads and that’s how I gradually learned the act of film making. There was always a wish to make a feature film and while I was at my native place, I found a few real incidents which inspired me to form the plot of this film. It took me almost three years to complete this script, which later was selected at the NFDC script lab in the year 2023.

I was unaware of the actors who can best fit into which character. So we auditioned according to the understanding of the character and the performance based on the same not the look primarily. Honestly the fear of failure is there. As I have come from a platform where we used the refined form of film making I thought here I may have to compromise. But deep in my mind I was clear that the audience now are not fools, and if as makers we think like that then we are definitely going to face backlash. So the standard of content which I like or the generation today appreciate, our approach should be like that, not less in any way. The biggest challenge was to convince the whole cast and crew that we are into a serious job and we all need to be sincere at any cost. The workshops and proper pre-production work have really helped us a lot.”

Normally convincing the producers is the most difficult task in the film making process, but thankfully it became easier for Beeswaranjan, as both of the producers Chandramani, Sushil Kumar Mishra are his friends who have seen his ad works before, so they have enough faith in him. He said, “I am also the co-producer of the film, so we three friends together made this film happen. It took us about four years to complete this movie starting from the script part from the beginning. I had a wish to infuse the true Odisha culture through this film, for example we did a serious drama scene in between a Kirtan scene. So it’s to put a Odia flavour into it. We shoot at a real village with real villagers and the ambience. The climax of the film has been planned in a little grand way with the early morning vibe of a village vegetable market. But we couldn’t afford that due to various factors. So as a director I have to compromise there but I have made sure that the gist should be the same. While making this film I understood that we need to have more proper planning, we need to have a hell lot of patience, team work is a must with only one person being sincere, we can not make it the best. Lastly marketing is something which we need to focus more on, we need to have at least a 25% of budget for the marketing untouched. Normally what we do is the remaining amount after the film making is used on marketing, which is a wrong approach.”

“This is the first ever feature film of my life, but I don’t know what the actors and other crew saw in me that they blindly supported me and surrendered themselves before my craft. They said whatever you want we will do for the film. After watching the Iranian and Japanese films, what I have learnt is that, the greatest fight is the internal fight, which is happening inside a human’s mind with various emotions. So that is the greatest drama a director can focus on. So in this film no one is antagonist if you notice carefully, everyone has their own reason to act in a certain way. We have shown the sad reality of the rural areas of our state, how the unemployability affects the lives and ruins family and society balance. The success I was expecting has been maximized by the love we have got from our viewers. But at the same time because the making time was a bit delayed, we missed the train to apply at a few national and international film festivals,” he signed off, talking about the success of the film.

“It’s okay to look ugly on screen, for me it is more important to look like the character.”: Suryamayee Mohapatra

The character Julie didi, is now a household name among the Odia cinema lovers who have watched this film. While playing this character actor Suryamayee Mohapatra was seen chewing Pan in the entire film. She said, “It was a risk for me to agree to play this character as an artist. Because with the stereotypical mind set we have, sometimes we artists get type-casted. Some may think that maybe I am not getting the so-called lead heroine role that’s why I am agreeing with these characters. But the reality is it has been my conscious effort to break all these stereotypes for the last three years. For me as an actor I can play any character offered to me and that is what I want to prove here. It’s ok to look ugly but for me it is more important that I look the character. It was also a challenge to match that level of acting with a senior actor like Hara sir. Thankfully everything went so smoothly and the audience loved our performances so much that they wished to see us in more scenes.”

“The film is always a team work, so the earlier the artists understand this the success of Odia films is not so far. After watching the film there are audiences who may have not recognised me or my real name, so they are like, we loved the Anganwadi didi, we loved Jullie. Bara Badhu has entered into the fourth week in the theatres, which is a great sign for our industry,” she  signed off.