Filmmaker Nila Madhab Panda, the name behind the critically acclaimed and much-appreciated feature film I Am Kalam, which went on to bag a National Award and many international awards, has recently made his streaming debut with a web show – The Jengaburu Curse. The SonyLIV series revolves around bauxite mining in a small mountain city called Jengaburu, where there are some unexplained deaths and corruption is rampant at multiple levels. The cast comprises Nassar, Makrand Deshpande, Faria Abdullah, Sudev Nair, Deipak Sampat and Melanie Gray among others.
The Telegraph Online spoke to Nila Madhab Panda on why The Jengaburu Curse is being touted as the first climate fiction web series in the country and how it can make people think about natural resources.
You have explored cli-fi, a new genre, in The Jengaburu Curse. Can you elaborate on the world you have created?
Nila Madhab Panda: We have never talked about climate as a character. That’s why climate fiction is a whole new genre, which we have put in a thriller space. The show is unique because we watch it from the tribal people’s perspective.
The premise of The Jengaburu Curse is fresh. What made you come up with it?
Nila Madhab Panda: I have been affected by climate and its effects all my life. I come from a small village (in Odisha). We are affected by the rise in temperature and the sea level. I realise we need to tell a story, otherwise it will be restricted to only books taught in school. That’s when I thought a thriller on the streaming platform would be great. The story is about Jengaburu, a small mountain city. When people with ulterior motives find out that there is a mine underneath, it is destroyed without people realising that it provides support to human life.
Do you think it will make people think?
Nila Madhab Panda: Illegal mining is happening across the world, whether it’s Africa or Australia. We have tried to tell a global story around a local place. From kids to the elderly, it’s bound to affect everyone’s minds. A lot of strong research went into it. It took three years to crack the screenplay and it wasn’t easy to put the story together. Nature has to blend with thriller.
The background score by Alokananda Dasgupta (filmmaker Buddhadeb Dasgupta’s younger daughter) has added a different flavour of thrill to the show…
Nila Madhab Panda: Oh, Alokananda is incredible. It’s a blessing when people like her come on board with their soul. She wanted to work a month extra on the music even after her contract was over. She said it’s something that she can do all her life. Even while shooting, my artists had to stay in a small hotel at Keonjhar but they didn’t want to leave. It’s the people who make the show.
Did The Jengaburu Curse develop as a web show or was it intended to be a film in the beginning?
Nila Madhab Panda: I could have made a film but web shows provide the opportunity to come up with multiple layers and characters. One can explore all these only on the streaming space. We have created a new world here. Mukesh Chhabra (casting director) arranged all the actors in a month. We shot extensively for 80 to 90 days.
