Odia filmstars attend the mahurat of Superstar in Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar, Feb. 7: Director Barada Prasana Tripathy and producer Debananda Panda have joined hands again to make a new film — Superstar. Their first joint venture, Kalinga Putra, was a success.

The director-producer duo believe in introducing new faces and are launching actors Anshuman and Sonam Kar in this project.

The mahurat of Superstar, which was a star-studded affair, was recently held at a local temple for an auspicious start to the project.

Superstar is all about chasing one’s dream. The story revolves around a village boy, played by Anshuman, with big dreams.

The boy’s struggle to reach the top is the central theme of the story. On his journey to fame and popularity, he finds himself trapped in a love triangle. The lead heroine is played by one of Tripathy’s favourites, Rali Nanda, who also had a pivotal role in Kalinga Putra.

Anshuman, popular as Jayadev in the television serial Sri Jagannath, is all smiles about his debut movie. “It was plain and simple luck. Both the director and producer liked my performance in Sri Jagannath, but I had to go through extensive auditions before I got this big break,” he said.

Not just the actors, music director of the film Mihir Mohanty also is making his debut. Singers Shaan, Udit Narayan, Rati Satapathy and Shibani will be lending their voices to the film. Nimai Mohanty, Debasis Panigrahi and Samarendra Mohapatra have penned the lyrics.

The film will be shot at various locations in the state. For song and dance picturisation, the Superstar team is planning to head to Vizag and Hyderabad.

The biggest attraction of the film is, however, the guest appearance of Nana Patekar.

“Nana Patekar is expected to arrive mid-March for the film shoot. He will be playing the role of a chief guest of a dance reality show. In another scene he will save the abducted hero from goons. I consider myself extremely fortunate that Nana is a part of my project,” said Tripathy.

Other members of the caste are Mahasweta, Mihir Das, Satyaki Mishra, Ratan Meher, George Tiadi, Aswini Brahma, Jayeeram Samal and Lina, Hadu.

Director Gadhadar Puty and actor Akash Das Nayak also turned up at the mahurat to give their wishes to the production team.

“I made my debut in Kalinga Putra and had a wonderful experience working with the team. I’m sure Superstar will also win over the audience,” said Akash.

Shooting is expected to begin after February 10 and the film is expected to release in monsoon.