A month and a week gross collection of a whopping Rs.17.8 crores of Odia blockbuster ‘Bou Buttu Bhuta’ shocks you even more than the appearance of the ghosts and vengeful spirits in the film. Why? It is because it is probably the highest grossing movie in the box office so far, surprisingly higher than the humble Odia aspiration.
One wonders what is the recipe of this mega success? The storyline? The songs? The cast? The ghost? Or the haunting locales? Or is it some missing ingredient in the master chef’s dish that is yet to be discovered.
Finally, Kumbhakarna’s slumber has been awakened and the Odia audience wakes up to smell the coffee, as never before. No OTT can stop the cinegoers, maintaining the houseful status even after about 37 days of its release.
I had never been to a theatre to watch Odia cinema. Many reasons for that- the major one being a lack of trust in the quality of the output. But something in the popularity and the news of ‘Bou Buttu Bhuta’ running houseful in every cinema hall in Bhubaneswar made me rush to a nearby theatre to satiate my curiosity, whether it was worth the hype. I went with minimal expectations and with a baggage of the melodrama of the Odia film of yesteryears.
Bou (Aparajita), the village exorcist grips your attention in the first scene itself and holds her magnetism in your system till the very end, when she glances at you holding her plate of mutton curry and local alcohol and you already feel excited contemplating about a possible compelling sequel. Like her persistent efforts of her exorcising the ghost of Amari from her son Buttu (Babu Shan), she never fails to capture the hearts of her audience through her sheet acting prowess as well as the duality of the fragility and compassion of a mother combined with the fearless, daunting empowered village exorcist.
Buttu is simple-minded yet ambitious. He wants to make money by moving to Dubai. But Bhuta (the ghost) takes possession of his body and he suddenly becomes a dutiful son and voracious eater, much to the astonishment of Bou. All goats of the village go missing, and Bou finally starts suspecting Buttu that is confirmed by watching his strange footsteps, and weird mannerisms and appetite.
Rinki (Archita) is more gullible than Bou, and believes her lover has suddenly become more expressive and romantic, like in her dreams. Her hopes rise till they are crushed by her ghost-lover. Archita spells wonder with her riveting screen presence and her radiating on-screen chemistry with Buttu. Babushaan Mohanty, as Buttu, is a complete natural and as Bhuta, he has a strong screen presence, spooky and fearfully captivating in all frames. His unaffected gait in the dense fog of the Odisha rural scapes helps the part of the ghost he portrays.
‘Bou Buttu Bhuta’ scares you at the right junctures but more than that, it plugs at the appropriate corners of your heart because of a mother’s unfathomable love for her son, an unfulfilled love story, a honour killing and an innocent life lost that comes to possess Buttu and avenge it’s murder on the villagers.
The cinematography of the film is breathtaking. The beauty of the landscapes of rural Odisha is hauntingly captivating in the scenes of the film. You would surely want to visit those jungles someday.
Jagdish Mishra, the director, has given the Odisha film horizon a wonderful revival.