‘Kaun Kitney Paani Mein’ team in Odisha to promote film

Odisha Sun Times Entertainment Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Aug 12:

The team behind Odisha born director Nila Madhab Panda’s critically acclaimed upcoming film ‘Kaun Kitney Paani Mein’, including lead pair Radhika Apte and Kunal Kapoor arrived in Bhubaneswar today to promote the film.

Addressing the media at a promotional event held at the Audi, Bhubaneswar, the KKPM team comprising Nila Madhab Panda, Rangabati singer Krishna Beura and popular Odissi dancers Saswat Joshi and Prakruti Mishra talked about their experience while shooting for the film and what is different about the story.

Talking about his experience Kunal said, “It is because of Madhab’s film I came to Odisha. I just loved the script and decided to do it right away. The experience here was lovely. Before the shoot, I had come to stay at the palace of KV Singh Deo, the king of Patnagarh of Bolangir, to learn their ways and etiquettes and how things actually worked in Odisha. The people here are so warm. Talking about the film, my character is the son of the king. There is so much intensity in the father-son relationship. There are so many plots in different films where the hero tries to make the heroine fall in love with him for the same reason but in this film the hero tries to make her fall in love because of water. So it is a different plot and story altogether where we have addressed the issue of water scarcity but not in a preachy way.”

Radhika Apte, who had come to Odisha when she was a kid, too was glad to come back again. “I had once been to Puri temple but I was too young to remember anything. Today I feel so blessed and happy that I will be going to see the trinity and seek the Lord’s blessings. The Odisha trip is truly a memorable experience for me.”

Son of the soil Nila Madhab Panda sais he was truly proud to address the gathering. “We have come to take the blessings of Lord jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra. There is also a sequence in the film where a puja is being conducted before the trinity. I feel extremely proud and blessed to represent the culture of Odisha- through Rangabati song, Sambalpuri dance and Odia festivities through this film to the global audience. I hope through this film many talents from Odisha would get a chance to foray and venture into much bigger platforms. Most of the crew in this film are from Odisha.”

Popular 70s Sambalpuri folk song Rangabati is to be given special mention. “Nila bhai came to me and said that we both are from Western Odisha. The film is based on western Odisha, then why not we use western folk Rangabati. Let’s take everything and do it in Bollywood,” reminisces Saswat Joshi, who has done the choreography and has a special appearance along with popular Odia actress Prakruti Mishra in KKPM’s Rangabati.

Krishna Beura who composed and sang the “Bollywood” Rangabati in Hindi also deliberated on the need to represent Odisha in Bollywood. “The beat, authenticity and Odia cultural instruments are imbibed in the new Rangabati I composed three years back when Madhab jee approached me. We stayed as close as possible to the original song but the lyrics are in tune with the film’s storyline. I think there should not be any controversy and I support every single try by every artist who has tried to represent Odisha at the national level.”

After a short press meet at Audi Bhubaneswar, the KKPM team left for Puri to seek the Lord’s blessings. After returning, they went for another promotional event at KIIT University.