BHUBANESWAR: Odisha has always had his heart. And, as he wished, the versatile actor Bijaya Mohanty drew his last breath at 70 here on Monday evening. In the mid 70s, when his National School of Drama (NSD) batchmates Nasseruddin Shah and Om Puri moved to Bombay (now Mumbai), he chose to return home. Years later, last May when he was ailing, he once again insisted to come back from Hyderabad. He wanted to end his journey in his own land, perhaps!
After undergoing a surgery of the prostate gland in Hyderabad, the actor was there for his follow-up treatment. Some days later, he suffered a heart attack and was admitted to a hospital. But, the Odia heart lingered for his City of Temples. On insistence, he was brought back amid the lockdown with the help of Bhubaneswar MP Aparajita Sarangi and some members of the Odia film industry.
“He didn’t want to die farther home. He called up people back home and requested them to take him to Bhubaneswar. He wanted the journey to end here,” said filmmaker Basant Sahoo, who had shot maximum number of films with the veteran actor since 1990. Here, he was admitted to a private hospital. Showing signs of recovery, he was discharged around two weeks back. But, around 5.30pm on Monday his pulse went missing, claimed family members. He was rushed to the same private hospital but declared dead.
Mohanty started his career in Ollywood as a rebellious hero in ‘Chilika Tire.’ But destiny had a mischievous plan for the versatile actor. Though ‘Chilika Tire’ was his first film, it released three months after another film ‘Nagaphasa’ which presented him as a villain. And prior to ‘Chilika Tire’ and ‘Nagaphasa’, Mohanty did a short role of a film producer in ‘Abhimaan’ that released in 1977. For around seven years, he kept doing negative roles in Odia films and gained popularity.
In 1982, there came another twist in his career. He was cast as the second lead in the film ‘Kaberi’ starring actor Sriram Panda. This was followed by a series of character roles he played in several other films. “He could get into the shoes of any character. He lived those characters on the sets. He was undoubtedly a trained actor,” added Sahoo. One of his popular roles featured him with actor Uttam Mohanty in ‘Jaga Hatare Pagha’ and as Baghia in Chha Mana Atha Guntha. He made people laugh with comic roles too.
The film fraternity still remembers his hilarious character in ‘Hasa Luha Bhara Diniya.’
Many would call him-’a director’s asset.’ They said he would never complain about his characters or the director’s instructions. Instead, he would humbly assist the director too. “If I am a director today, it’s all because of him. His climax role in my first film as a director ‘Ki Haba Sua Posile’ changed my career,” added Sahoo. Besides acting, Mohanty taught drama at Sangeet Natak Mahavidyalaya. A native of Kendrapara, he had also contested Lok Sabha Elections for Congress party in 2014. He was honoured with national award for his contribution to art and literature. He had won Odisha State Film Awards six times, receiving the first one in 1981 for the film ‘Aarti.’