His humble background did not stop him from dreaming big, and he fought all odds to reach his goal. Devesh Ranjan, a youth of small Jarada village on the border of Jajpur and Keonjhar districts, has made the cut, notching up the leading actor’s role in the English film Vara, The Blessing.
The film, an international project which marked Devesh’s debut as an actor, is directed by Bhutanese filmmaker Khyentse Norbu of The Cup fame which will be released at the film festival in Berlin soon.
Devesh had joined in the School of Drama in Mandi of Himachal Pradesh after becoming a Commerce graduate from the Vyasanagar College at Jajpur Road. He also acted with noted theatre personalities like BV Karnath, Rabin Das, Alok Chaterjee and Surendra Sharma in New Delhi after completing his diploma in Mandi.
Talking to this paper, Devesh said, “Vara is based on a short story Rakta Ar Kanna by Sunil Gangopadhyay. It is not just a story of blood (Rakta) and tears (Kanna). It is the story of an untouchable Hindu outcast. He wants to change his profession of sweeper he has inherited under the Hindu social tradition. The society thrusts him back to cleaning human wastes. His son, Bangshi, is not ready to yield. He makes earthenware and succeeds. Then he becomes ambitious. Now, he builds effigies of Hindu gods and goddesses, even Devi Durga. Can he succeedIJ”
“I am playing the role of Shyam, a low caste village boy who belongs to the clan of clay artists. The movie revolves around a young woman of upper caste named lila, her mother Vinita, a temple dancer (Devadasi) and Shyam. The film is about their life, losing their innocence through the harsh realities of life with a parallel world evoking lila’s love for Shyam whom she considers equal to lord Krishna,” he said.
“Prior to Vara, I had got major roles in two Hindi films. Not very keen on doing those, I returned to my village for a break when I got a call from my teacher Dilip Shankar, a noted casting director. He broke the news that Norbu, the director, wanted to audition me immediately. Once I got the script, I asked a friend to shoot me doing some of the scenes in Keonjhar and sent the tape to Norbu. He liked it and called me for a second round of audition to Delhi. I cannot forget the day when Uma, Dilip Shankar and Vara producer Nanette Nelms informed me that I was selected for the role. I still feel it was a blessing after years of hard work,” said Devesh
“Norbu is an actor’s director. He knows how to bring out the best in an actor. He guided me in my role as a harassed, poor Dalit boy. He would tell me to tone down whenever I became melodramatic in my scenes. Sahana is a gorgeous person and it was amazing watching her perform on the sets. Her portrayal of the gamut of emotions of the character was a treat to watch.”
“This film is a tribute to Sunil Gangopadhaya. I am confident that the film will bring me many more good roles in future. It’s a good time to be an actor with roles being written that allow you more scope to reinvent yourself. There’s also a lot of international work of different ethnicities coming to Indian actors, which gives you a worldwide audience," said Devesh.