From Acting To Direction: Asit Patra’s CinePlay ‘Sakharam Binder’ Slated To Premiere Soon

Bhubaneswar: Donning his directorial hat, actor Asit Patra, known for his lead roles in ‘Bhairav’ and ‘Nayaka Ra Naa Devdas’, has leaped from being in front of the camera to behind it, crafting his upcoming CinePlay ‘Sakharam Binder’.

Vijay Tendulkar’s ‘Sakharam Binder’ remains one of the most controversial Marathi plays performed in 1972. It was banned in 1974 for a few years due to its contentious premise of male chauvinism – a man who lured destitute women and castaway wives with food and shelter only to reap his own benefits.

In a conversation with OdishaBytes, Asit hinted about his transition from acting to directing or screenwriting, which is a dream come true for him.

Amid the safety guidelines to keep the raging COVID-19 pandemic at bay, the team took up a challenging, yet lean working model and completed the entire film in just 25 days, says Asit. He believes there is a ‘Sakharam’ in all of us. This is a very critical play as there are both positive and negative sides to the characters, he added.

Ahead of its premiere, here are excerpts of the conversation with Asit Patra, which throw some light on what inspired him to do this CinePlay and its relevance:

People to an increasing extent had confined themselves to the safety of their homes. How did you prepare for this cinema during the pandemic?

We shot this film in just five days but the rehearsals and workshops before the shoot took 20 days. The script was ready by the end of April. We abided by all the guidelines issued by the government. It was a team of 25-28 on the set and each of us had to shoulder the responsibility of more than one department. We rehearsed in the early 20 days of June. Each of us had the script. We discussed it virtually- thanks to technology. Also, we remained in the character while at home which was very challenging for us. We completed the shooting on July 1.

As an actor and debut director, what was the most significant compromise you made during the shoot?

I want to clarify that becoming a director was never my ambition and I am not the only director of this film. Yes, it is my directorial debut but I am associated with other directors, Sunil Pattnaik and Biswa Bhusan Mohapatra too. There were no compromises regarding the project be it in the resources or the freedom of the role. Due to the pandemic, most of the discussions were finalised virtually.

Given today’s scheme of things, how did this controversial play come about?

I always wanted to do something different. The theme of ‘Sakharam Binder’ deals with the darker side of the human psyche. It is a mirror that shows us our darker side that we are afraid to even look at. The writer has done justice to the characters by bringing out the realistic aspect that is in every human being- some amount of bluntness, vulgarity which one is unwilling to accept. The writer has braved all the odds to bring out these to the audience. Despite being surrounded by controversy, the main message it conveys is, ‘Don’t be a societal hypocrite’. It is in and out an accord script so I decided to direct and act in this CinePlay.

Take us through the sets, the kind of dialogues, and the music we will hear…

The dialogues are the same but the motive might differ. The dialogues have been well devised after discussion with the creative team so that the essence of the character is not lost. Some intense music scores will be used indicating situational impacts. And you will find a similar portrayal of yesteryear rural backdrop. You can get a glimpse of ‘Sakharam’ playing theme music on a ‘Mridang’ originally played by Harpreet Singh, which is very strong, beautiful, and impactful.

Could you share a brief of the plot of your version? Have you introduced any changes to the original play?

We have neither added nor edited anything in the cinema. The script remains the same as the play. But while translating from Marathi, we have just modified certain words that originally sounded vulgar. The core feel or essence will remain the same but such usages have been limited.

As a director and an actor, how do you anticipate the responses the film will garner?

We have ensured to keep away the vulgarity. In Odisha, the CinePlay concept has never been introduced before. The film shows the best of both the worlds of a man. I hope people will love this concept and try to understand the ‘darkness’ within. But, it would be appreciative if the people who do not believe in this ‘darkness’ also try to understand this depiction.

Again, it depends on the receptive nature of the audience the way they grab the awareness around its subject. We have done justice to the characters and the theme. We hope that the audience connects to the portrayal of male chauvinism during that period. I hope people will be able to embrace it as art and entertainment.

How do you plan to release this film amidst the pandemic?

Seeing the uniqueness of the content we have decided to release it only on the OTT platform. Primarily, we are targetting the leading OTT platforms in Odisha. We are trying for big OTT platforms with English subtitles as well because our content is quite diversified. We will release further details very soon.