Bhubaneswar: Ollywood actor Swaraj Barik has turned director. After ‘Frus2’, he is directing another short movie ‘Manjunath’, for which shooting is underway at his hometown Baripada.
“‘Manjunath’ celebrates the COVID warriors. The story revolves around a police officer, who saves a pregnant woman by donating blood with the help of a doctor,” said Swaraj.
The movie has been produced by Subhendu Sahu.
Rabindra Behera is the cinematographer. Rajesh Das is the editor while Soumitra has composed music for the movie.
The star cast includes Annada Das, Dhira Basa, Bijendra Rout, Tapas Padhi, Indu Bhushan Kanungo, Subrat Kumar De and Sharmistha Panda.
“The success of ‘Frus2 inspired me to take on the mantle of director again. We will soon start the post-production work of ‘Manjunath’. We have tried to show the effort and hard work of COVID warriors during the pandemic through this movie of about 18 minutes duration. It will be released on Independence Day,” said the 23-year-old.
The movie has been produced under the banner Kuhu Cine Flicks and Swaraj Barik Films.
Swaraj had worked as a child artist in 22 Odia movies and five TV serials. He played the lead role in five Ollywood films.