Bong beauty rocking in Odia film industry

This is the second film that she is doing with Anubhav and Murali Krishna after 'Jaga Hatare Pagha', released last year.

Jhilik Bhattacharjee | Diana Sahu

Jhilik Bhattacharjee has come a long way. Ever since she debuted in 'Target' opposite Amlan in 2013, the Bong beauty has already done nine Odia films and is currently shooting for the 10th one 'Tamaku Dekhila Pare' opposite Sambit and Siddhant Mohapatra.

Considered one of the leading actresses of today, her latest film, 'Agastya' will release on Sunday. "Agastya was an interesting experience. Shooting of the film was completed in just 48 days. So we had to work round-the-clock," she says, adding that it was the film's script that interested her. In the film directed by K Murali Krishna and produced by AK Parija, Jhilik stars opposite Anubhav  Mohanty and Akash Dasnayak. "I am thrilled and also nervous about the film," admits the actress, who is now busy promoting the film across the State.

Apparently, this is the second film that she is doing with Anubhav and Murali Krishna. Their first film together was 'Jaga Hatare Pagha' that released last year.

In the last three years, she has worked with all the leading Odia actors, both senior and junior. To a query on her favourite co-star, Jhilik says she likes working with each one of them. "I cannot take a pick (of my co-actors). They are all different in their own ways. While Babushan is good with comedy, Anubhav is a fantastic romantic hero and Arindam is very good with action. Working with all of them has been a learning process for me," she says with a smile.

Jhilik adds that the Odia film industry has been extremely friendly and welcoming. The actress likes calling herself 'Jack of all trades'. Acting, she says, was never planned. "In fact, I always wanted to be a dancer," she said. Apart from being a trained Bharatnatyam and Kathak dancer, she has assisted dancer-actress Shobana in choreographing Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in Mani Ratnam's 'Ravana'. Jhilik was a dancer in the Shiamak Davar Dance Academy and has tried her hands at modelling as well.

"During the shooting of Ravana, Mani Ratnam sir told me that I should try my hands at South Indian movies. Since I was staying in Kolkata then, I decided to give Bengali movies a shot," says the actress. She debuted in Tollywood with Sujit Guha's 'Tomaye Bhalo Bashi' in 2011 and went on to do five back-to-back Bengali movies.

"It was during Tomaye Bhalo Bashi that I met SK Murlidharan, choreographer of the film. When he decided to direct Target in Ollywood, he called me to have a look at the film's script. I was a little apprehensive because I had never been to Odisha before, forget doing an Odia film," she recalls. She, however, managed to learn the language soon. "The cuisine and language of both Odisha  and Bengal have a lot of similarities, so I did not face much difficulty in learning the language or adapting to the new place," she says. A self-confessed foodie, Jhilik loves her 'Bhata', 'Dalma', 'Badi Chura' and occasionally, 'Dahi Pakhala'.