Nanda Kishore Prusty. You may be familiar with this man as a Padma Shri winner, and/or as an educationalist who devoted 70 years of his life towards providing free education to children. Nanda Prusty’s story has gone on to take mythical proportions in his village in Odisha. However, do you know his story? How did he go from a small village to a position where he could give blessings to President Ram Nath Kovind while receiving the prestigious award? What are his struggles as a theatre artist, a store owner and a farmer, and what are his achievements along the way? Pranab Aich’s documentary Nanda Master’nka Chatasali chronicles the story, from Nanda's days struggling to make ends meet in pre-independent India to the moment where he received Padma Shri from the President and everything in between. The documentary aims to educate the audience on the man whom they fondly call ‘Nanda Master’ while throwing light on his arduous journey as he navigated the grassroots of Odisha's education system. A winner of the 2009 Sony World Photography Award in Cannes, Pranab made the documentary as its producer Abhaya Pati, a former journalist and educationalist, pitched the idea to him.
Interestingly, not everyone in Odisha knows who this man is, despite his legendary exploits in the Gurukul education sector. In an exclusive conversation with CE, Pranab says, “This recognition hardly mattered to Nanda Prusty sir, because he did not consider himself important enough to be known to people in the first place. Nanda sir did what he did not to earn name and fame but as part of social service.”
Speaking of which, the man who has become very popular in Odisha as a result of the documentary is Nanda Prusty’s grandson Khageswar, who serves as a narrator in the film. “He is a hero in Odisha at the moment,” Pranab reveals about Khageswar Prusty. The filmmaker adds, “He was selling vegetables and groceries in a small shop before; he has become a distributor in that in just five years. The amount of confidence and the power that has been pushed on him... suddenly nobody dares to touch him.” The filmmaker also discloses that a neighbour who attacked Nanda Prusty’s family disappeared from the village because the family has become more well-known thanks to the documentary and for fear of a potential backlash from the villagers.
The film is slowly gaining traction among the audience thanks to positive word of mouth, despite a growing tendency among exhibitors to limit shows to early morning in the wintertime. "Who will come at that hour to watch a small film?" Pranab asks before adding that films from major production banners are throwing out quality independent films in Odisha. Nevertheless, the audience who has seen Nanda Master’nka Chatasali in theatres after its recent release has been appreciating its performances and drama, says the director. The other day, one of the state’s biggest film stars, Babushaan Mohanty, commended the film on social media and asked people to watch the docudrama. “I have also received phone calls from school owners and teachers from different places who are talking highly of my work. They are doing it out of love for Nanda sir. I think I have done a good film, not necessarily a great film,” the filmmaker candidly admits. “I would rate it seven out of ten, whereas many viewers told me that it is a ten-on-ten film. They believe this film has something to offer,” Pranab adds.
While much of the audience discourse has been centering around the documentary’s subject, Nanda Prusty, not many have talked about the role of casting in its fictional portions. Finding an actor to play Nanda Prusty’s younger version was not easy for the filmmaker. “I wanted someone with the rawness of the desi boy who could convey the polished nuances of a professional actor, which is hard to find even in Mumbai. We conducted auditions, and some even came to our studio. However, today’s generation, especially Gen Z, is quite polished in the way they look, in terms of their hairstyle and how they dress up. They look flamboyant and elite.” Finally, Pranab found an actor (Saisresth Das) with a theatre background from Bhubaneswar who, while never having lived in a village, knew how to act. Pranab shares, “Saisresth came to my studio clad in a dhoti just to impress me. I felt this actor could not translate the spiritual part of Nanda Prusty all that well; I wish he had done so, because then I would have kept more of his scenes. However, in terms of handling children and acting in the theatre portions, he did everything brilliantly.”
Pranab believes that Nanda Master’nka Chatasali represents the story of not just one man but the entire country itself, an understandable emotion considering how it ranges from the pre-independence era to the pandemic period. “It is my love letter to Bharath,” Pranab shares. He also talks about an interesting connection between the documentary’s take on the so-called ‘Chatasali’ education system, which refers to the long-standing open-air system of teaching, and Indian mythology. “I got inspired from the Puranas to make this film. Because I thought when it comes to the Puranas and the Shastras, the real history of India has been written in documentary format.”
The filmmaker says that the portions where Nanda and his grandson Khageswar talk about the education system echo that of Valmiki narrating Ramayana to Lava and Kusa in the ashram, asking doubts from time to time.
“There has to be an element of Nanda Prusty in everyone," Pranab shares, alluding to the tradition of students giving ‘Dakshina’ to their teachers so that they never take the latter for granted. “Likewise, it is important for the Gurus to be selfless. This film is dedicated to all the selfless teachers of India,” the filmmaker signs off.
