Odisha born Devesh Ranjan, who made waves in internationally-acclaimed movies like Vara: A Blessing and Bhor, is an actor who strives to make his role real and relatable. With each movie, he presents a new and unexplored side of his potential. He has contributed enormously in the development of meaningful cinema. His film Bhor will be screened at the 49th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa along with Tiger Zinda Hai, October, Raazi and Padmaavat. Ahead of his film’s screening at IFFI November 20, Ranjan talked to Orissa POST about his journey in tinseltown.
Ranjan made his debut in the internationally acclaimed English film Vara: A Blessing and his performance wonglobal appreciation. The movie was shown at the opening of the Busan International Film Festival in South Korea. Vara went on to win several international awards, including thebest online feature awardat the Tribeca Film Festival.
Born at Jarada village in Jajpur district, Ranjan dreamt of a career in tinseltown even as a child. He used to ask his friends to participate in skits penned by him. “I assigned roles to them. However, I kept the protagonist role for myself. Interestingly, boys used to portray the female characters and we used to have loads of fun. Those days, I did not know the ABC of acting. For me, acting was showcasing one’stalent in Jatras, a popular medium of entertainment in Odisha which is melodramatic. It was years later that I fully understoodthe meaning of acting. It was my uncle Ratnakar Ojha, a famous painter, who honed my acting skills to some extent. I left for Delhi after completing my B Com from Vyasanagar College, Jajpur to pursue a career as acompany secretary but fell in love with theatre instead. Theatrenot only taught me the nuances of acting, but also instilled hope in me of finding new avenues in the film industry,” says Ranjan.
Recalling his initial days of struggle, Ranjan says, “I offered tuitions to students to eke out a living in Delhi. Those days, I found it really hard to speak Hindi. People would laugh at my broken Hindi. So, I started buying Hindi magazines to learn the grammar of the language and master it. With sheer determination, I finally overcame my fear of Hindi. Though I did not qualify for the National School of Drama, I was not deterred.I went to Himachal Pradesh where I pursued a course in acting at the Mandi School of Drama, before finally moving to Mumbai to try my luck in films.”
Ranjan came into the limelight after he got opportunities to work with theatre gurus like Robin Das, MK Sharma and BV Karanth. However, it was eminent theatre personality Dilip Shankar who trusted his talent and provided him much-needed exposure. Recounting his journey in Mumbai, he says, “For a decade, I refused the small roles offered to me in tele serials. I preferred to work as a model, a voice-over artiste and a casting director with some production houses while I waited for a break. I got offers to play the lead in TV serials and supporting roles in films. But things didn’t materialise as either they rejected me for my dark complexion or I refused the offers because of thepoor script.”
When he failed to make a mark in the film world, Ranjan went back to Odisha. It was then that he got a call to play the lead role in the English language feature film Vara: A Blessing, an international project directed by Bhutanese director Khyentse Norbu of The Cup fame, which marked his debut as an actor. Talking aboutthe much-needed break, Ranjan says, “Vara came my way when I had made up my mind to live in my village with no thoughts of returning to Mumbai after a spate of rejections. One day, I got a mail from Dilip Shankar, the casting director of Life of Pi, informing me that Norbu wanted to audition me for the Vararole. I sent them video clips of my audition that were shot with much difficulty in my village. They liked the clips and shortlisted me from among other reputed Bollywood actors who were vying for the role. I felt like kissing the clouds when I bagged the role.”
In 2017, Ranjan also played a supporting role alongside Adil Hussain andRashikaDugal in the popular short film Chutney which has 123 million views to its credit.
About his latest project Bhor, he says, “Itis a film on a young rural girl’s war against patriarchy and unhygienic lifestyle. It is the story of a struggle for education and basic sanitation in a small tribal community of ‘Musahars’ in Bihar led by a 16-year old girl Budhni who refuses to give up even when faced by insurmountable obstacles. It’s a celebration of the indomitable human spirit, dignity of women and human life. I play a realistic and powerful character in the film. Set in a Musahar tribal village, I essay the roleof Sugan,Budhni’s love interest whobecomes a partner in her struggle to regain her dignity in a conservative society. Their story later becomes an inspiration and triggers a national movement to make the country free of open defecation.”
Bhor has been selected for the Panorama section at the 49th IFFI. Ranjan, who is excited to be part of the festival, says, “IFFI is India’s biggest film festival and is attended by famous film personalities from across the globe. It’s an honour to be there.”
Apart from acting, Ranjan is also a known casting director, who has cast actors for more than a dozen international films. He is interested in collaborating with film schools in Odisha and conducting acting workshops to help aspiring young actors.
Talking about Odia films, he says, “During my college days, I used to bunk classes to meet directors and producers to bag a role. But I was rejected as I wasdark and skinny. According to them, only good looking guys are fit for the glamour world. One reason forOdia actors not being able to prove their mettle at the international level is thatwe have failed to produce crossover cinema. They are not purely art films, they are entertaining too. Marathi, Telugu and Bengali film industries are doing commercial films as well as parallel cinema. But in Odisha, there are only a few directors like Himansu Khatua who make movies inthis genre. We will be recognised internationally only if we produce such movies.”
Ranjan is also a trained Chhau dancer who learned the martial dance under the tutelage of Chhau exponent Sadashiv Pradhan. “Apart from having a diploma in acting, I learnt Chhau dance to be a good actor. In my opinion, every actor should learn certain dance forms as it helps in acting.”
Ranjan attributes his success to Dilip Shankar. “Dilip sir is my mentor and guru. Whatever I am today is because of him.”
RASHMI REKHA DAS, OP