Specially-Abled To Be Cast In Sabysachi’s ‘Maal Mahu Jiban Maati’

Bhubaneswar: In a first-of-its-kind, Ollywood will be casting differently- abled children to relate their own story in a commercial movie called ‘Maal Mahu Jiban Maati’.

The movie is also a maiden venture of the audio label, Amara Muzik. Amara approached actor Sabyasachi Mishra with the story idea because they knew about his association with Sruti Mohapatra’s NGO Swabhiman.

It was then that the seed of casting these children as actors instead of having child actors play the role, germinated in the actor’s mind. So he organized an audition for special children at ‘Anjali International Children’s Festival 2018’ to cast them in his upcoming movie. “Out of the 60 participants, we selected 20,” said Sabyasachi.

“All of them are so talented. Usually, we take others to play the role of differently-abled children or adults but it is time we let them portray their struggles themselves. They have been excelling in everything except movies. It is time we bring them to the fore,” he said.

“I have been a part of Swabhiman for a long time. This time, it helped me to do something for the children,” he added.

It was an interesting learning process for both the children and Sabysachi.

“Initially, we had to select only two-three children but we ended up picking 20 after bringing some changes in the movie’s story line. Six of them will be playing individual characters while the rest are cast for a dance,” he said.

The movie chronicles the life of a man who struggles with stammering. Directed by Ramesh Rout, it will have scenes and situations involving the children, which will be an eye-opener. “It is a light movie, so there will be fun and life’s lessons too. In the movie, I get inspired by these children,” Sabyasachi said. Actress Elina Samantaray plays the female lead.

The name of the movie is a popular phrase used by Odia people. “This phrase is funny but self-explanatory. In the movie, people tell the protagonist that he is handsome and is good with everything but stammering has turned his life into ‘maati’, or waste. However, people fail to realize that soil gives life too,” the actor said.

The narrative has been given shape by Nirmal Nayak and Abhijit Majumdar is the music director.

The protagonist overcomes his stammering by getting inspiration from the children. “It is important that we cast specially-abled children for the roles being played. We can be a great medium to make these young people self-sufficient,” he added.

A show-reel of all the auditions has been made. “We are creating profiles of each of these participants. The tapes and the information regarding their strengths and their best traits will be stored. In future, if there is a role that demands specially-abled children, we will have profiles to choose from,” he said. This audition, he added, was a platform.

On the other front, Sabyasachi’s Bengali movie, ‘Raktomukhi Nila’ is nearly complete. He has also been getting offers from the South. One of his movies, ‘Adioka Idile’ will be released soon.