You may know of him as an anchor, an RJ, a VJ, a comedian, an actor, a commentator. But can you think of Mantra as a spiritual mysticIJ Yes, that is what he is playing in his film. And not just one, but three different babas who guided the spiritual journey of immensely popular spiritual guru, Osho Rajneesh.
The film is titled Rebellious Flower. Mantra says, “Osho was like a rebellious flower himself. He broke the conditioning of the mind that is very difficult to break.” Revealing how he came across this role and how he agreed to it, he adds, “I have been following and reading Osho for the past 20 years or so and consider him next only to Budhdha. I met the writer of this film, Dr Jagdeesh Bharati, in Pune and introduced him to our young director, Krishan Hooda. I am glad to have been associated with it from its very inception.”
In the movie, Mantra plays three distinct characters, each of whom met Osho at different times of his life and influenced him in different ways. He tells you, “Magga baba was about 70 years old and considered almost as a good luck charm. But he never spoke, only emitted weird sounds which were understood by Osho. So I created my own language for this character. To get into the skin of Paggal baba (about 45 years old), I applied real ash from a crematorium near to our location. Of course, later I faced problems for it! Finally,Masto baba the young singing mystic, almost a male Meera bai. Owing to this, for the first time I have a couple of songs picturised on me!”
Mantra’s connect with Osho is much older than one would think. “My real name is Puranjit Dasgupta. At many ashrams, you are given a sanyaas naam. At Osho’sashram, I was named Swami Mantramugdh and that’s where the name Mantra came from.”
The film released on January 15 in select theatres across the country. But the makers did not intend for a commercial and mainstream release at all. “It is a very niche film, but PVR has obliged us by releasing it in its Director’s Cut screens. But Osho has so many followers and people who love him that we are sure the film will be a success,” explains Mantra.
For a viewer, it may be quite difficult and very different to see him in serious roles like these. But he doesn’t mind confusing his viewers as Osho didn’t mind confusing the minds of his people. “I want to be a humid artiste, not a concrete one; I want to keep flowing and not be one dimensional,” Mantra says.
He believes in adding more feathers to his cap. He has started his own production house that creates theatre, short films and radio products. His aim is create more creative options as the ones present are very few. He will be back as a sports commentator in the Pro Kabaddi league and is also working in an upcoming film with Aftab Shivdasani titled Boy in Bollywood.
