HE is humble, sincere and deeply optimistic. At 27, Biren Jyoti Mohanty may not have accumulated awards and accolades but has received something he values much more. Complimented by none other than Aamir Khan for his brilliant editing in recently released multi-starrer Bollywood flick Luck, he believes the journey has just begun.
Hailing from a small village in Kendrapada, Mohanty has grown up in Talcher. A graduate from the Drama department of Utkal Sangeet Mahavidyalaya, he also completed a multimedia course later. “I joined the Drama department as I wanted to get rid of the average tag in whatever I did and thought I could be a successful actor. But after I joined, my perspective changed and I realised acting is not a piece of cake and neither is film making. Somehow the technical side of films attracted me and I felt an urge to learn direction or editing. Thus the multimedia course.”
Like they say where there is a will there is a way, he was guided by one of his teachers at the Mahavidyalaya, the veteran actor Bijay Mohanty who referred him to renowned young editor and director Sushant Mani. “He groomed me carefully by giving major tasks during the editing of Oriya films, serials, albums and documentaries. Whatever I’ve learnt about the technicalities of editing is all because of him,” believes Mohanty. After being a part of Mani’s team, he independently handled the editing of many regional projects. Asked about his struggle in Mumbai, he replies, “I don’t believe it was a struggle exactly. Finding work in creative fields is equally tough in Bhubaneswar so why label the job search in Mumbai a struggle.”
After posting his resume in quite a number of studios, Mohanty found an associate of Mani working at Cinevistaas. Soon with his reference and of course skills and experience from back home he worked as an assistant editor for serials for close to one and a half years. “Serials pay very well but I rejected offers of independent editing. That would restrict me to serials and finding opportunities in films would get limited,” Mohanty says. He thus took an eight month hiatus. Soon, he learnt about the requirement for an on-location editor in a Hollywood film. This gave weightage to his profile and he assisted top editors like Steven H Bernard, Aseem Sinha and Sanjay Sankala. “I should say the film Luck brought me good luck. It so happened that Sanjay Sankala could not take out time for the film and the production unit was little unhappy about it. Since I had assisted him regularly, he suggested my name and I’m glad I was appreciated during all the screenings, the most valuable ones being Sanjib Dutta’s and Aamir Khan’s,” says Mohanty.
The talented youngster says there are no shortcuts for success. He dreams to get into direction once he is established as a successful editor in Bollywood. “I wish I could make meaningful cinema. But I would not say I wouldn’t venture into commercial films. Finance is important,” he says. Visiting his hometown, Mohanty is taking out time for his family and friends and to watch movies which is a rarity in Mumbai due to heavy work load.
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