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In the name of goddess

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In the name of god

 

Roshmila Bhattacharya

Posted online: Friday, September01, 2006 at 0000 hours IST

 

The idea is sourced from the Mahalaxmi Puran. Most Indian households including mine worships the Goddess of Wealth every Thursday—Guruvaar—but few of us know the story behind this ritual. How did the idea of a multi-lingual, socio-mythological come about? The idea is sourced from the Mahalaxmi Puran. Most Indian households including mine worships the Goddess of Wealth every Thursday—Guruvaar—but few of us know the story behind this ritual. There was a time when the worship of deities was forbidden to untouchables by the upper-caste Brahmins. Lord Jagannath, disturbed by the social discrimination, and with Narad’s support, planned a leela that began with Laxmi being given permission by him to leave her divine abode—Shri Mandir—-and visit earth in the month of Maargashish to see how Mahalaxmi pooja was being performed by her many devotees. While there she came across the achhut Sriya who despite untold humiliation and torture, dares to worship her. Moved by her devout

spirituality, Laxmi gave her darshan and blessed her with boons. Ah, so that’s how the practice of Laxmi pooja came about? No, there’s more. When news filtered back to Laxmi’s brother-in-law Balbhadra he was furious with her for having entered an untouchable’s house and ordered Jagannath to turn her out. A shocked and shattered Laxmi left home after cursing Balbhadra and Jagannath, telling them that they would be without food and water for 12 years and would be able to quench their hunger and thirst only when they allowed an achhut to serve them. She took up residence in a new Shri Mandir that she had replicated with the help of Lord Vishwakarma, till Balbhandra, filled with remorse, requested Jagannath to bring their Griha Laxmi back, and accepted food from an untouchable who was actually the Goddess in disguise. That perhaps explains the respect and love showered on the Grihalaxmi in later years. That’s right. Well, Laxmi returned

home on the condition that henceforth the prasad from Shri Mandir would be served to all, irrespective of caste, class or creed. Jagannth readily agreed to her diktat and Naarad subsequently revealed how he had himself set up the series of events to eradicate casteism. So while his brother’s actions were governed by maya, Jagannath’s were actually powered by knowledge. Unlike our other scriptures, the Lakshmi Puran highlights not just cultural but also familial values. In this story for instance the relationship with Brhama and Jiva is beautifully potrayed through Jagannath and Balbhadra. At Jagannath Puri the trio of Jagannath, Balaram and their sister Subhadra symbolise family ties and are worshipped together every year during the rath yatra. The temple chariot with the deities are pulled along on the wide main temple road of Puri as the godly siblings come out on the street to meet the devotees. Interesting. So that’s what drew you to the story? My imagination was

fired by the idea of how a God along with his brother knowingly suffered a long and painful ordeal in a conscious effort to bring about social reform. Laxmi’s stand too was a mainfestation of stree shakti or woman empowerment that has impressed mankind down the ages. Considering that Jagannath’s realm is restricted primarily to Orrisa, why have you made your film in 13 other regional languages besides Oriya and English? It’s true that Jagannath’s divinity has so far been confined to Orrisa and neighbouring West Bengal and Assam. That’s the reason I decided to make Jai Jagannath in 15 languages because I believe this socially-relevant film will be able to take his message of reform for progress across the country and maybe through the world too. As you know Puri is an important pilgrim town in India, one of the four sacred dhaams of the Hindus. Legend has it that after Krishna left his mortal body, his naabhi (navel) did not turn into ashes. So Arjun immersed it in the

ocean from which it emerged transformed into wood or daru. This wood is worshipped as daru Brahma Jagannath and even today, dieties of Jagannath, Balaram and Subhadra are carved from wood and cremated every 12 years. The deities have a unique appearance. Their look is neither human nor animal. It’s the abstract look. Ishwara, according to Hindu philosophy, denotes both the form and the formless—aakaar and nirakaar. Reportedly you’ve been working on this film for 10 years. What took you so long to greenlight your dream project? n(Sighing) It was God’s will. An age-old superstition to tell us that anyone who starts work on a project involving Lord Jagannath has to face innumerable obstacle initially. My path too was strewn with hurdles, the biggest of which involved my brother’s wife who suffered a major accident that left her with a badly-injured leg. There were others too. There were times during the long decade when I would wonder why I was able to wrap up other

films smoothly but just couldn’t get this one on the road. Was money a problem? No, surprisingly it wasn’t. All my five brothers are top-ranking technicians. B Chintu Mohapatra who is the producer of Jai Jagannath has worked as line producer to Mani Ratnam. Another brother, Prakash introduced the remote control screen in Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani. Both he and my son are specialised cinematographers who have worked on several big-budget bonanzas. We all got together and arranged the finance ourselves. Friends too have readily pitched and many have worked for free. Bharat Shah, who is a friend of Chintoo, was approached and immediately agreed to not only help with finance but will also be releasing the film all over India on Laxmi Pooja day—November 9. We’re also trying for a worldwide release but have yet to rope in a distributor. (With a smile) Thanks to Laxmi whenever we needed money we got it though my son who is the No. 1 gizmo operator in the country gave up on

several plum projects to concentrate on Jai Jagannath. The entire family has made sacrifices for this film including giving up non-vegetarian for a whole year. In fact, my entire team turned vegetarian through the course of the film. Is yours a very religious family? Yeah, we are very god-fearing and shooting would start everyday with a pooja. On the last day we organised a hom (havan). A portrait of Lord Jagannath was painted on the studio wall and remains there even today. Friends to my sets spoke of a “spiritual vibration”. I too have felt the presence of the Lord and his divine consort and like to believe that they were the ones who cleared the hurdles for us. What hurdles? We had a 25-day schedule in Orissa. Once when shooting in Puri we were hit by a cyclone. It seemed impossible that we would reach the location. But just when we were about to give up hope the skies cleared miraculously and we were able to can some shots with our reel-life Laxmi. But no

sooner was the scene over when it started raining again! A miracle occured in Umergaon too where a major portion of Jai Jagannath was filmed in a 65-day schedule. It was smooth sailing but as soon as I announced ‘Pack-up’ the floods came and the sets were washed away. Were you able to shoot in Jagannath Puri? We shot outside the temple and the people around were so co-operative that they even dug up the electric poles around so we could recreate the period when electricity didn’t exist. You are never given permission to shoot inside Jagannath Puri so my brother, art director Montoo Mahapatra, had to build a replica of the mandir. It was one of the 10 sets we erected. Another one, which took three months to build and cost us plenty was the godly abode of Jagannath and Laxmi. Real pandals (priests) performed the pooja for us at our set temple and the flowers used for worship came from Jagannath temple. Lakhs of pilgrims visit the mandir where about 26 rituals are

conducted everyday and the daily routine of the Lord is akin to that of a normal human being. The deities are dressed in different attires according to the seasons and festivals. We got costumes that who in every way like the original tailored for our dieties too. The costumes alone took us two months to make. The film has been shot in DTS, right? Yeah, we’ve used digital sound and state-of-art graphics. The film also has six beautiful songs and a background score by Amar Haldipur. Sriya, the achhut kanya is played by actress Mohini Shilalipi who is also a famous Odissi dancer. She accompanied me to an Oriya film festival in Kerala some time ago and once we got talking she evinced a keen interest in the project. Two of the songs have been picturised on her. I believe Sadhu Meher is making a comeback in Jai Jagannath? Yeah, he’s playing the Chandali’s father-in-law. He’s worked with me earlier too in films like the critically acclaimed Bhuka. Interestingly, I was a

practising lawyer who since childhood had been interested in acting. So despite strong objection from my father who was a teacher and wanted me to accept a lucrative bank job offer, I joined the industry and was the first TV artiste from Western Orrisa. I was doing quite well as an actor when Sadhu Meher decided to turn director and offered to take me on as his assistant. That sparked off an interest in direction. I left acting and have never looked back. It seems appropriate that Sadhu should return to Hindi film with me today. Who are your ‘godly’ actors? (Smiling) Jyoti Mishra who I introduced to Oriya films is playing Laxmi. She is a superstar today. Sreetham Das is Jagannath. There are several new artistes in the film. I spent a year on the casting. I wanted the perfect cast. Will a mythological find an audience in today’s spiritually-starved, materialistic world? I believe the era of mythologicals is coming back given the recent success of Hanuman and the

announcement of a sequel, the launching of Shree Krishna and the imminent release of Jai Santoshi Maa. Even Rajkumar Santoshi is making a Hanuman today. People are looking for a change. We’ve had two screenings for about 100 families and the response to the film has been overwhelming. Harish Mahanti, a promient heart surgeon, was in tears after the show. He confessed he was weeping over a film after 10 years. Another person who was left misty-eyed was director Sisir Mitra. You are a highly respected and successful Oriya film-maker who has been on the National Award jury and made noteworthy documentaries like India 24 Hours and several TV shows. You’ve won several National and international awards including the prestigious Utkal Jyoti. How confident are you of Jai Jagannath’s commercial success and will it pick up awards? (With a laugh) You know, it’s strange but whenever I’ve made an art film it has picked up a National or State award and whenever I’ve made a

mainstream film it’s been a superhit. That makes me optimistic for Jai Jagannath. I’m grateful that the Lord chose me to make this film. I thank him for the opportunity everyday. I’ve served my God and I am at peace today.

http://www.screenindia.com/fullstory.php?content_id=13373

 

 

 

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