Bhubaneswar: Acclaimed for his work in theatre and films outside the state, director-actor Chittaranjan Tripathy says he was always interested to work in Odia films.
Tripathy, who bagged the ‘best comedy artiste’ award for ‘Love U Jessica’ in the recently-announced Odisha State Film Awards, struck a chord with the audience with his role of a comical-yet-suspicious driver. Though the movie’s story revolves around a murder mystery in Darjeeling, Tripathy’s character left a mark, especially his singing old Odia melodies while doing his duty as a driver, in the aficionados’ minds. Susant Mani has written and directed the film, which features Pralipta Priyadarshini and Saanu as the lead pair.
“Susant asked me to play the character of the driver and I agreed. I am happy to have got recognition for playing the role,” said Tripathy, who is an alumnus of National School of Drama.
Well-known in Delhi’s theatre circles, Tripathy’s directorial debut in the play ‘Taj Mahal Ka Tender’ was a hit and ran for almost 10 years. He has also composed more than 500 songs for various plays and won the ‘best music director’ award for his debut Odia film ‘Dhauli Express’ in 2007. He has directed over 50 plays for various theatre companies across the country. His Hindi musical short film ‘Courtroom Nautanki’ participated in International Film Festival of India (IFFI), Goa, in 2010.
“My recently-released Hindi film ‘Pramod Gupta JE’ has travelled to some prestigious festivals in Los Angeles, Barcelona, Florida, New Delhi and Jaipur. It is basically a black humour in which the protagonist tries to find fulfilment in life. The story becomes interesting as it unfolds in each step and captivated the audience,” says Tripathy, whose debut Hindi rom-com ‘Tera Mera Tedha Medha’ was released in 2015.
