As 'Baghuni' shines at Cannes, Partha Panda candidly speaks about Odia cinema making global mark

New Delhi [India], June 2 : For film producer Partha Panda, it was a moment of pride as the first look of his Odia feature film 'Baghuni' (Dance Like a Tiger) was officially unveiled at the 78th Cannes Film Festival.
In a conversation with ANI, he shared his experience of taking his film project to an international audience, his journey in filmmaking and how the Odia film market is making its mark globally.
"It was a very great experience. I met Anupam Kher and Shekhar Kapur, who revealed our motion poster, so it was a very wonderful and most memorable experience."
As part of the Official program of the Bharat Pavilion at Cannes International Film Festival, hosted by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India, the first-look motion poster of the film was released on May 15 in the presence of the film's director and producer, Jitendra Mishra, and producer Partha Panda.
The film is a co-production among National Film Development Corporation of India (NFDC), Glocal Films UK Limited (founded by Odisha-born, London-based producer Partha Panda, and Jitendra Mishra's Cinema4Good Pvt. Ltd, 'Baghuni' is a co-production--the first of its kind for any film from Odisha, with the National Film Development Corporation(NFDC) returning to the state after a 23-year gap in significant cinematic collaborations.
On the inspiration behind the film, he shared, "It's about women's empowerment, and a girl holding a protest in a male-dominated society, and how a lady is stepping out and fighting for her rights, so it is all about this."
While talking about the film, he added, "We named it 'Baghuni'(Dance Like a Tiger) means Tigress and we had a dance called 'Bagha Nacha', (the Tiger dance is the traditional art form performed in Binka, Sonepur, Brahmapur and some parts of Ganjam district in Odisha), and the story was written by one of the good directors, his name is Jitendra Mishra, so we had a conversation from last 3-4 years ago about the story, so we developed the story, then we were going step by step, so first time in 2023, this story was selected in the NFDC co-production market, then luckily, out of 11 countries, 20 stories were selected and we were one of them, which was a good thing about that, and particularly for Odia language, this type of thing, like NFDC involvement happened after 23 years."
Partha Panda is an entrepreneur whose journey spans over 15 years of higher education and successful enterprise in the UK. He is a Managing Director, Film Producer & Arts Impresario.
Despite being in a different profession, he always remained passionate about cinema.
Sharing how his journey in filmmaking started, he added, "Every time I watch a movie from childhood, it's always I wanted to involve in film, but for me, when I was doing my graduation, that time I had an interest, either I wanted to become a director or something involved in the movie industry, but my study and everything was different. In my family, my mom is a good dancer, my dad studied in drama school, so we have a little understanding about that, which came a little from the family. So, the first time I tried was in 2008-09, but I could not finish that project for some reason."
"Then I tried again in 2011, but again, we could not find the right person who could do the job together, because in this type of thing, finding the right director or person who can guide you is tricky. I found my friend, Jitendra Mishra. So, I thought, this is the guy with whom I can do the job. So, that's where the conversation started, and we were sort of working on this project for the last four years."
Panda further discussed Odisha's cinema. According to him, the Odisha film market is still struggling; however, it is getting better, and with achievements like his film reaching Cannes, it gives a boost to the industry overall.
"Odisha market, it's not that strong at the moment. But it's getting better. So, there was last... I don't know, maybe 5 to 10 years, there was a gap where people were not supporting that much, however, now things are improving," he said.
Written and directed by internationally acclaimed filmmaker Jitendra Mishra, 'Baghuni' is the first international co-production from Odisha, featuring celebrated Odia actor Sabyasachi Mishra as the lead actor, and boasts a talented crew that includes multiple National Award-winning industry professionals.