Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Thursday watched the short film ‘Baji: The Immortal Boat Boy’ at the Secretariat on the death anniversary of Baji Rout. Patnaik also released a poster of the movie.
The short film is directed by Chinmay Das and produced by Satyabrata Sanu Ratho. Debutant Arijeet Mishra plays the role of martyr Baji Rout in the film.
The Chief Minister appreciated the filmmaker’s initiative in showing the life of legend Baji, and also advised the makers of the film to screen the movie at all schools across the state.
The film portrays the courage of Baji Rout, the youngest martyr in the history of our freedom movement.
Director Chinmay Das said the movie is an initiative to narrate the story of Rout. “We wanted to tell people the timeless story of Rout’s bravery. His inspiring life encouraged many people to join the freedom struggle,” he added.
The film was shot in rural Odisha, and Das who had made four films, including one on the Rally for Rivers campaign, said that to make the movie he read a lot of books and met historians.
“I had to learn about the lifestyle of the Odia people in the 1930s, and how they dealt with British atrocities,” he said.
British forces had gunned down 12-year-old Baji Rout, who was born in Dhenkanal district, as he refused to ferry them across the Brahmani River on the night of October 11, 1938.
The producer of the film, Satyabrat Sanu Ratho, said, “We are happy to be part of a film that has its roots in our history. We will send the film to national and international festivals.”
Recently, former Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag also paid homage to late Baji Rout, who was born October 5, 1926 at Nilakanthapur in Dhenkanal.
The ‘Sultan of Multan’ said Baji Rout’s story of courage, selflessness and valour needs to be told to all children.