Two Odias in Anushka Shetty Starrer ‘Ghaati’

Two Odias in Anushka Shetty Starrer ‘Ghaati’

One of the quotes from American author Napoleon Hill states, "Your big opportunity may be right where you are now." Something similar happened with two Odias, Dr. Devika Priyadarshini and Abhi Nag, who are now all set to enter the Tollywood industry with the superstar of the South, Anushka Shetty, starring in a film directed by the popular South director, Krish Jagarlamudi, titled ‘Ghaati’. The film also has other popular actors like Ramya Krishnan, Vikram Prabhu and Chaitanya Rao playing major roles.  After completing a few scenes at Koraput, both of them have recently traveled to Ramoji Film City and shot for three days. They have another schedule and will resume shooting the film very soon.

Abhi, who is an auto-rickshaw driver by profession is a native of Colab Dam, Koraput.  He lives with his wife, parents, and two siblings. He is the only earning person in his family. A big movie buff, aware of the Telugu film shoot near his native place, he went there after completing his rides for the day. That's when director Krish saw Abhi and offered him a role in the movie as a junior artist.

Expressing his happiness, Abhi said to My City Links, “I am blessed to get such a big opportunity. Not only did they pay me for acting, they also paid the rent of my auto-rickshaw for all shoot days  when I mentioned to them that my whole family depends on my income.”

A native of  Balasore, Dr Devika Priyadarshinihas shifted to Sunabeda, Koraput after marrying to an aeronautical engineer. Choosing family over her profession, former medical officer Devika  left her job and stayed at home to take care of her two daughters. But to keep herself engaged she started making comic videos on YouTube. A line producer from Koraput got to know about her acting skills and recommended her name to the Odia film director Ramesh Rout who was in search of an artist for his film ‘Rowdy Raja’. Since then, Devika has never looked back. She garnered attention for her character as a pregnant lady in the much talked about Odia film ‘Daman’, starring Babushan Mohanty. She has worked in other Odia films like 

‘Tor Mor Kati’, ‘Sindura’, ‘Apana Mane Khusi Ta’, ‘Kasturi’ and many more.

She was called by the local line producer to act as a body double, but destiny had other plans for her. She said, "At first, I didn't know what a body double does. But later, while on the way to the shoot location, I found out that I would be standing in for someone else in a scene, so my face would not be captured. It made me sad for a while, but I was super excited about working with the South film industry for the first time. After my shoot, the director himself offered me a character to play, which was again a big surprise for me."

On February 3rd, late at night, the cast and crew of ‘Ghaati’ arrived in Jeypore town for shooting at Deomali Hill in Koraput district. Several parts of the film were shot on the main road of Jeypore town, Surya Mahal, and Jayanagar locality, including a park near Jagannath Sagar. According to reports, the entire cast and crew stayed in Jeypore.

When asked about the experience working with the South stars, Abhi said, “We shot near Colaba in February, and in March, they called us to Ramoji Film City to shoot for 15 days. Unfortunately, due to some health issues of the male protagonist, the shoot was stopped after three days. Again, we’ll be going there soon to shoot for about 15 days. Director Krish is a very humble and sweet person. He takes care of every single person working on his project. He even praised me, saying that I am doing very well in acting. They cover all our travel and staying expenses and also call us frequently until they are assured that we have reached home safely.”

According to Devika, her family, especially her husband, is her greatest support; otherwise, it wouldn’t have been possible. While talking about the experience of working with Anushka, she said, “Anushka is very curious about Odisha’s art and culture. It was like a dream come true while I was doing scenes with her. She is one of the sweetest persons I have ever come across. This film is a women-centric film. The tribal getup I have taken for the film 'Daman' was appreciated by the director Krish. Both Anushka and I are playing tribal characters in this film. I also got a chance to act with other stars like Vikram Prabhu and Chaitanya Rao in this film.”

Recently, during an event, Bollywood’s renowned filmmaker Karan Johar praised the team of ‘Ghaati’ after watching the teaser and asked Krish to talk about this upcoming film. Krish replied, “The queen is coming. It’s the story of a victim who turned into a criminal then becomes a legend in the eastern parts of India, Andhra-Odisha Border. It’s a big film with Anushka Setty, and I am looking forward to everyone witnessing the magic of the queen.”

It is notable that director Krish’s other notable films include ‘Vaanam’, ‘Krishnam Vande Jagadgurum’, ‘Gabbar Is Back’, ‘Gautamiputra Satakarni’, and ‘Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi’. He also directed the back-to-back filmed biographical dramas ‘NTR: Mahanayakudu’ and ‘NTR: Kathanayakudu’. In 2020, he started filming a historical fiction movie of an outlaw, ‘Hari Hara Veera Mallu’, with Pawan Kalyan.