Putting to rest all speculations centered around her second innings in Ollywood, actress Pinky Pradhan has made a comeback and how! Her film, Deewana Deewani, running in theatres now, is already in news for all the right reasons including her stellar performance. Although the film is an intense love story revolving around Babushaan and Madhumita, Pinky has a pivotal role and does complete justice to it.
Pinky, who was away from Odisha for a long time spending last few years in Mumbai, was last seen in the film To Payen. However, after coming back, she started with a mega serial on Tarang, Abhuja Mana and MBC’s reality show Antakshari, where she co-anchors with music director and singer Abhijit Majumdaar.
The actor who seems to have mellowed over the years as evident from her performance in her latest film, feels her days spent in Kishore Namit Kapoor Acting Institute in Mumbai, where she also earned a gold medal, have helped her understand the nuances of acting much better. While being in Mumbai, Pinky was probably the first Odia to have won a reality show contest on MTV - Power in Your Hand Contest. She was also fortunate enough to be groomed by Bollywood diva Perizaad Zorabian then.
Back home and with a new perspective towards acting, Pinky is now not bothered if she is being offered the lead role or has just a few songs in a movie. ‘‘I have already done that before. Now, I want to focus on good cinema and good roles. I could have easily taken up a bhabhi or young maa role as that is a common practice for those who make a comeback, but I took up Deewana Deewani as the character I play gave me a challenge to perform. Ollywood has always been a male bastion but it appears that winds of change are already being felt and with all the experience I have gained in Mumbai, I want to now do some meaningful roles for my Odia audiences,’’ the actress confesses.
In Deewana Diwani, Pinky plays the role of a leading heart surgeon, who in a matured manner, handles the situation when a young man (Babushaan) takes over the emergency ward of the hospital when the hospital authorities refuse to operate his wife due to his incapacity to arrange the funds required for the same.
‘‘It’s a one-day role in the film but a crucial one. My husband is the police officer who wants to arrest Babushaan. How I gradually relate to the plight of the young man and his concern for his wife and convince everyone that he isn’t wrong and then go ahead to save his wife, is what the role is all about,’’ Pinky informs.
On the same note, she also adds that her next release Target has a different role for her in a friendly appearance. ‘’I play an IPS officer and the character of an angry young woman. As it is, being in uniform was always a dream so I am extremely excited about it,’’ she says. ‘‘Like I said, my focus isn’t on out-an-out commercial movies, I want to do roles, women-centric, that people relate to. I want to show people the serious actress in me today. And, I hope I can start a new trend of sorts in Ollywood,’’ she sums up.