Ace filmmaker back with 'reel' tribal life

BHUBANESWAR: After churning out two critically-acclaimed films in a row, ace film director Sabyasachi Mohapatra is ready with his latest feature film 'Pahada ra luha' (Tears of Mountain) to be released next month. Like his previous films this one also deals with problems of ethnic communities and the changes in their lives due to displacement and mining.
"I started the film about 10 years back. But due to financial and other constraints I had to stop the shoot in the middle. The subject was very close to my heart so I decided to complete it," said Mohapatra.
The 1.50-hour film is in Desia and Kalahandia languages and Ashrumochan Mohanty, Soumen Pujari and Swati Ray are playing the lead roles. The photography in the film has been directed by Kumar Chodaganga and music scored by Ramesh Kumar. Major portions of the films are shot in interior areas of Koraput and Kalahandi districts.
"I wanted to show that how peaceful and content was tribal people's life. But onslaught of mining and other development activities has started affecting their lives," said Mohapatra adding, "I am not against modernization but not at the cost of our tradition."
The filmmaker is planning to send it to some national and international film festivals. "I always try to show some crude reality of life in my films while human values and positiveness are the inherent message," he added.
His film 'Sala Budha' released in 2012 was included in the Indian Panorama segment in India International Film Festival (IIFF) in Goa and 'Adim Vichar' released in 2014 bagged National Film Award as best Odia film in 2015.