Bollywood singer acts in bhajan 'Ahe Neela Shaila'

Salabega

, a Muslim devotee of Lord Jagannath in the early 17th century, occupies a high seat among the devotional poets of Odisha with his bhajan, Ahe neela shaila. Now, a group of filmmakers and technicians have joined hands to revive the bhajan through a fusion music video based on

Odissi

and

Chhau

choreography.

Biren Jyoti Mohanty

, who works in Mumbai as an editor, has directed this video that was shot in the outskirt of Bhubaneswar, in a secluded place called Bingharpur. “The project is an important move at a time when the entire country is suffering from communal intolerance. We should remember that there was a time when people were peace loving,” said the director of the five-minute long video.
Mumbai-based singer

Krishna Beura

, particularly known for his sufi-style renditions of many

Bollywood

songs, has crooned the bhajan in the video. He also plays one of the key characters in the film.
Odissi dancer

Pallavi Das

has choreographed the dance sequences. “This is not the first time I am performing with this song. But for this film, I had to learn Chhau. It is so different from Odissi. Accordingly, we had to perform both the dance forms in the same frame. It was quite an experience,” the dancer told BT.
Actor Samaresh Routray is creatively associated with the film while Asutosh Panda directs the photography.