Prasenjit Chakraborty
Agartala, April 27, 2019: She is a ‘star’ now and her talent is, of course, an inspiration for many girls. Her face itself reflects a million stories. Beginning with a not-so-smooth innings, 29-year-old Raai Katha, a simple but ambitious girl, finally achieved her dream of becoming an actress with Gojamil, a full-length Bengali movie produced in Tripura, that hit the screen on April 26.
Directed and produced by Debashis Saha, the man behind Tripura’s growing film industry, Gojamil starred Raai Katha as lead actress, Himadri Shekhar and Biswajit Roy as lead actors. Nurturing her dream from on the-road small growing township Kulai in Dhalai district, Raai Katha has spelt out unique narratives of strength and sensibility. She completed schooling from Kulai Higher Secondary School in 2009 and then graduated from Agartala Women’s College.
“Whatever the situation is, people should not give up their dreams. There is a time for everything. But, someone has to face and overcome challenges to achieve the goal,” the Gojamil star said in her soft voice. Sharing her journey as an actress, Raai Katha said, “in my childhood, I did dance performances and dramas. But, at a point of time I felt that I was looking for something else. It was actually the beginning.”
“After schooling, I shifted from Kulai to Agartala. In the new place, everything was new to me. However, I took admission at Women’s College for graduation. In the meantime, I got married. In the second year of graduation, I became pregnant. Yet, I never gave up chasing my dream. Even, I performed dance during four months of pregnancy. And, it was one of the memorable moments of my life,” Raai told premier English daily ‘Tripura Times’ adding that struggle is a part of life which leads to success at the end.
It was then that she faced a tough time in balancing the family and professional life. Finally, she had to quit Music College where she had taken admission after graduation. She is skilled in Odisi dance form and classical music. Apart from this, she had launched an online radio show in 2017 through Facebook which helped her gain popularity. Before achieving her dream of becoming film star, Raai Katha worked in a number of albums and short films in and outside the state. Her hobbies include modelling and photo shots. She likes to eat fruits more than other foods.
In her remarks on Gojamil, Raai Katha said, “Genre of this movie is mainly comedy but it features a bunch of social messages including equality. Debashis Sir (director) worked hard and I hope people will love the film.” Conveying her message, Raai Katha appealed the people to watch the movie for encouraging the budding film stars of Tripura. She also conveyed her sincere gratitude to Kaushik Bhattacharya and Nabendu Kiran Debnath for their supports.
She is also blessed with a unique talent of making Ambigram – it is a word, art form or other symbolic representation whose elements retain meaning when viewed or interpreted from a different direction, perspective, or orientation. This form of art is extremely rare and there are not many artists who are adept to it.
The duration of Gojamil is 2 hours and 40 minutes. There are four songs in the movie. Four persons Sannidhya Das (also the lyricist of three songs), Minakshi Ghosh, Bishnu Thakur and Sumita Bhowmik played supporting roles. Two lead actors- Biswajit Roy and Himadri Shekhar later joined the interview. Both of them also shared their experiences.
“I used to watch drama rehearsals at Jute Mill Binodan Sanstha through the window. It was none other than Shankar Chowdhury (a renowned artist and writer) who picked me up and shaped my career,” said Biswajit. He already played important roles in five movies Dadabhai, Bokha (Kokborok), Bonu, Bolona Valobashi and Gojamil. He is also working in an upcoming project. Before entering into the arena of full-length movie, he gained experience in theatres and short films.
Himadri smiled and said, “I learnt many things new in the field of film industry. My father J.P. Banik (writer) wanted to become an actor but he couldn’t because of some family issues. He is the inspiration of my life.” In the movie, Himadri played a significant role – a city boy moves to a rural area where he promotes sanitation and faces a series of funny events.
Earlier, he was seen acting in 17 albums of Tripura and Assam. The director- Debashis Saha highlighted the challenges he faced in making movies during the past couple of years. “There is no dearth of talents in the state but challenges are also there,” Saha told Tripura Times.
“I do generally believe in serious movies but this time I had to change my route based on the present situation,” he said. “Apart from the comedy scenes, the movie also featured some social messages and government’s slogans like Nesha Mukt Tripura and Swachcha Bharat.
All the members of team Gojamil worked hard and tried their best. I also thank the audience for giving massive response,” he added. “Sir (director) is so energetic, we never saw him feeling tired in the set. We never faced any problem in unity among the team members,” said Sannidhya Das, a Civil Engineering student from NIT Agartala, who is also the assistant director and lyricist of three out of four songs in the movie. He said that the Gojamil members had an opportunity to work independently. (Courtesy : Tripura Times Dt April 27, 2019)
