Bhubaneswar: The word ‘Manika’ brings back images of the one and only Mahasweta Ray, who has refused to age in all these years.
Having been able to carry a variety of roles on her shoulder with aplomb, she proved that acting can be a respectable career for women too.
After the release of her debut film ‘Sesha Srabana’ with veteran actors Prashanta Nanda and Hemant Das in 1976, the journey has been an eventful one with many beautiful turns, leaving an indelible impression on Odia film industry.
Remembering those golden days, Mahasweta says, “I feel lucky to have worked when so many women-centric movies were being made. Most of my films revolved around my character.” Scripts were even written keeping her in mind.
She was equally convincing as a village belle and a modern girl. She was impressive as a police officer and while raising her voice against injustice in the film, ‘Gouri’, released in 1979.
“The title of the film was kept after my character. I had a fight scene with a bull and the audience loved it,” Mahasweta recalls.
She played the protagonist in the films, ‘Punarmilana’, ‘Puja’, ‘Agni Parikhya’, ‘Maa-O-Mamata’ and many more.
The song, ‘Aei chumki se ta panire padiba nahi ki’, from her movie ‘Maa O Mamata’ has been an all-time favourite of Odia music lovers.
The actress, who ruled the Odia film industry for nearly four decades. was signed for playing all kinds of roles including, daughter-in-law, a messiah for the poor, a political leader and a village girl. She was also paid the highest.
“The sacrifice of ‘Kaberi’ to multi-starrer ‘Bastra Harana’ in which audience loved me as revengeful daughter-in-law and the glamorous ‘Lal Pan Biwi’, women were pivotal in all my films,” reminisces the actress.
Women power came to the fore even when she played mother in her later films like, ‘Bou’, ‘Tu Thile Mo Dara Kahaku’, ‘Jaga Hatare Pagha’ and ‘Chini’.
Reacting to the questions as to why the current breed of filmmakers did not believe in women-centric movies, she says, “In our time, there were good writers. These days, filmmakers do not give enough time to creatively improvise a script. Any powerful character if portrayed properly will draw crowd to the theatres”.
Mahasweta will be next seen in a family drama ‘Saathi Tu Pheria’ in which she plays mother to two sons.
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