A still from Saathi Pari Saathitie

Bhubaneswar, Jan. 8: Seven years ago his film Pooja Paeen Phulatie won the National Film Award for being the best feature film in Odia. Now, he stages a comeback with an interesting project.

Gadadhar Puty has again donned the director’s hat and is working on upcoming film Saathi Pari Saathitie (A Friend So Unique).

The protagonist of the movie is a visually-impaired lad.

It is the third film directed by Gadadhar Puty, who said that his hectic schedule as a government employee had kept him away from filmmaking. When he retired from his service in 2012, he returned to what he loved the most — creating meaningful cinema.

“I did an in-depth research for five years for the film’s theme and content before I started to write the script and direct the movie,” said the noted director, who had also worked as an editor for many films during 1980s.Made under Puty Productions, the film features Rajkumar Jena, fondly called Raja, a 10-year-old boy, who studies in Class-IV at the Bhabagrahi Model School for the Visually Impaired, Bhubaneswar.

“I know I am unable to see. But, I can feel what is around,” said Raja, who is happy to the play the lead role in the film. Other kids — Maxi, Mimansha, Dibyajyoti, Madhumita, Ajay, Bhumika and Pratyush — are playing various significant characters in the film. The supporting cast also features Bulbul, Rusi and Rakhee. Blind teachers of the school were also involved in the project.

“The wide appreciation of Pooja Paeen Phulatie inspired me to make another movie featuring children. Initially, I had thought that handling visually-impaired kids would be difficult. But as I went ahead, I realised that they were so talented that my abilities fell short. I am fortunate that I got such a great cast to work with,” said the 61-year-old director.

The first leg of the shooting began towards the end of November and continued till the second half of December. Gadadhar’s wife Padmini is the producer of the film, while son Piyush, who is gradually making a mark for himself in Bollywood, is the cinematographer of the film.

“It is like a cottage industry,” jests the director. The film unit has only a handful number of people from the Odia film industry.

The movie was shot in and around Bhubaneswar using real locations. “The film is supposed to wind up by April. But getting distributors for such a film would be an uphill task. If it does not get released in theatres, screenings could be arranged for kids who could see the film during their summer holidays,” said Gadadhar, an alumnus of the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune.