Bhubaneswar: Producer Sridhar Martha recently released the first-look poster of his upcoming Odia film Patnagarh, which is based on the much talked about Patnagarh wedding gift bomb blast, which claimed the groom and his grandmother, while leaving the bride critically injured February 23 this year. Like the meticulously planned murder that shocked entire Odisha, the poster of the film is also creating a buzz among movie buffs on social media.
Renowned Hindi film actor Atul Kulkarni, who has mesmerised audiences with his acting in the films like ‘Chandini Bar’, ‘Hey Ram’ and ‘Rang de Basanti’, has been roped in for the film. The film’s director Rajesh Touchriver informed Orissa POST that National award-winning actor Atul is portraying the character of Crime Branch IG Arun Bothra. The actor will be seen as a tough Crime Branch officer, who applies all methods to nab the prime accused Punjilal Meher. Meanwhile, actor Manoj Mishra has been cast as Punjilal, mastermind of the crime.
Martha told Orissa POST, “We switched the character in the end because we found Atul Kulkarni. We all know that Atul’s portrayal of police officer is unparalleled. When we asked him to do the role, he said agreed without any hesitation. Manoj Mishra is another excellent actor, who is National School of Drama (NSD) alumnus. We expect that the film will usher a new revolution in Odia film industry.”
“Atul will be in Odisha for 15 days to shoot the film,” he added.
It is also matter of pride for the Odia film industry that Patnagarh is being made in Telugu. “We usually grab story ideas from the Telegu films and remake them in Odia. But this time it will be reverse, as the Telegu film’s story will be based on an incident in Odisha,” the producer remarked.
Earlier, the film was titled Bullet Raja but later it was changed to Patnagarh. When asked the reason, Martha said, “The name Bullet Raja portrays a positive note but the criminal can’t be Raja, so, we changed the title. Moreover, the true event was held in Patnagarh for which we gave the same title. I believe the film name is another key factor to grab everyone’s attention. “
He also said that his team is working with all creative and professional people to make an original and meaningful cinema, which the Odia film industry had been missing for a long time.
National Award-winning filmmaker Rajesh Touchriver is all set to make the crime-thriller film more original and meaningful. The director Rajesh is popular for his film Na Bangaru Thalli.
It is said that the shooting for the film in July and is expected to hit screens around Dussehra this year.