Artistes have no time for shooting

It is going to be showtime in the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections of Odisha. The flight of almost the entire Ollywood to different political platforms has set the stage for the most glamorous election Odisha has ever had.

From superstars to television celebrities and from comedians to playback singers, members of Ollywod have moved into different party folds. The three mainstream political parties – BJD, Congress and BJP seem to be in a competition to recruit actors.

Artistes such as Aparajita Mohanty, Bijay Mohanty and Mihir Das, who are seen in most films, have no time for shooting right now. Aparajita and Bijay are contesting on Congress tickets from Cuttack and Bhubaneswar respectively for MP seats. Mihir is campaigning for the BJD.

Actor Anubhav Mohanty is also busy campaigning for the BJD while comedian Papu Pam Pam is contesting for the Assembly seat from Champua for the same party.

Akash Dasnayak is contesting for Korei’s Assembly seat on a BJD ticket.

Youngster Babushan, who is busy helping his mother Aparajita with her campaign, is juggling between shooting for Premi and the poll frenzy.

The slowdown and the political attraction for actors has become a cause of worry for filmmakers.

Sidhant Mohapatra seems to be the only one who has kept the hopes of filmmakers alive. “He won the Berhampur MP seat in 2009 for the BJD and yet, continued to take out time for good films. We hope others take a cue from him and learn the act of balancing between films and politics,” said director Chandi Parija.