A local resident being interviewed at the Char Sambhu shrine during the documentary shooting on Sonepur. Telegraph picture

Sonepur, May 19: The cultural heritage and tourism potential of Sonepur has prompted a group of Mumbai-based youths to produce a documentary on this town with the help of local people.

The month-long shooting of the documentary that recently concluded had been done in and around Sonepur. Produced by Satya Prakash Rath, a Mumbai-based cameraman, the documentary has been directed by Veena Mehta. Trinath Acharya of Sonepur, who had spent some years in Mumbai to learn the intricacies of photography, lent local support as the executive producer of the film. The documentary is yet to be titled.

The documentary is the brain child of Rath. Rath, a Sonepur youth, has made a mark in Bollywood working as cameraman with director of A.K. Bir. He was born in the riverside town of Sonepur and spent a good part of his life here.

“I have so many memories attached to Sonepur as I was born here and spent a good part of my life. The temples, the Mahanadi river and its nature have always inspired me. Nature is my favourite subject. After living so many years away from my hometown, I have decided to do something for it. I along with some of my friends in Mumbai, most of who hail from Orissa, decided take up the project to make a celluloid portrayal of Sonepur,” Rath said.

Rath, however, could not make it to Sonepur during the shoot due to his Mumbai schedule. Rather, he sent his team of cameraman, director and other unit members.

The unit has captured the temples, vistas of the Mahanadi river as well as nature in camera. The team explored almost everything in and around Sonepur to exploit the tourism potential of the place. They toured extensively to touch all important places of Sonepur, be it the memorial temple of saint poet Bhima Bhoi, the Koshaleswar temple of Baidyanath, the Papakshyaya Ghat of Binika or the distant Chari Sambhu shrine. Moreover, the unit made best use of the pristine beauty of the Mahanadi river.

“It involved a lot of travelling and homework as some places are far away. We had to plan our shooting schedule accordingly. In some places, we had to obtain the authority’s permission for shooting. I am thankful to everyone who has cooperated us,” said Trinath Prasad Acharya, executive producer.

Acharya said Sonepur could become a tourist hub of Orissa. “Sonepur has immense potential to become one of the most popular tourist spots in Orissa. Sadly, the place has not been exploited properly. We have tried to portray many facets of Sonepur in our documentary. We have just concluded the shoot and it is now in the post-production stage. Hope our work will be rewarded by the audience,” Acharya said.

Sonepur, May 19: Rich cultural heritage and immense tourism potential of Sonepur has prompted a group of Mumbai based youths with the help of enthusiastic local youths to produce a documentary on this town.

The month long shooting of the documentary was done at some exotic locations in and around Sonepur that concluded recently. Produced by Satya Prakash Rath, an accomplished Mumbai based cameraman, the documentary has been directed by Veena Mehta. Trinath Acharya of Sonerpur who spent some years in Mumbai to learn the intricacies of photography lent the local support as the executive producer of the film. The documentary is yet to be titled.

The documentary is the brain child of Satya Prakash Rath, a Sonepur youth who has made a mark in Bollywood working as cameraman with director of AK Bir repute. He was born in the riverside town of Sonepur and spent a good part of his life here.

“I have many memories attached to Sonepur as I was born here and spent a good part of my life. The temples, river Mahanadi and nature has always inspired me and they have been my favourite subjects. After living so many years away from my home town I decided to do something for it. I with some of my friends in Mumbai most of who hail from Orissa decided take up the project to make a celluloid portrayal of Sonepur”, Rath said.

Rath however couldn’t make it to Sonepur during the shooting due to his busy schedule in Mumbai. He sent his team of cameraman, director and other unit members of the documentary to Sonepur.

The temples, nature and the extravagant vistas of river Mahanadi all came alive as the unit captured in their camera. The team explored everything in and around Sonepur to exploit the tourism potential of Sonepur. They toured extensively to touch all important places of Sonepur, be it the memorial temple of saint poet Bhima Bhoi, the Koshaleswar temple of Baidyanath, the Papakshyaya Ghat of Binika or the distant Chari Sambhu shrine. Moreover the unit made the best use of the pristine beauty of river Mahanadi.

“It involved a lot of traveling and home work as some places are really far away. We had to plan our shooting schedule accordingly. In some places we had to obtain permission from the proper authority for shooting. I am thankful that every one cooperated us”, said Trinath Prasad Acharya, the executive producer of the documentary. Acharya further said that Sonepur had immense potential as a tourist hub of Orissa.

“Sonepur has immense potential to become one most popular tourist spot of Orissa. Sadly the same has not been exploited properly. We have tried to portray in our documentary the many facets of Sonepur. We have just concluded the shooting of the film and it is now in the post production stage. Hope our work will be rewarded by the public”, Acharya said.