Bhubaneswar, April 2: From the land of Lord Jagannath to Hollywood, servitor Shambhunath Khuntia sure is going places.
When filmmaker Sunil Babbar of Ants fame came to visit the Jagannath temple, he chanced upon Khuntia and asked him to play a role in his upcoming film Melody.
"I was stunned at first and could not reply. When I met him later, he told me about the character and the story of the film. I decided to give it a shot," says the chhamu khuntia or the bodyguard of the deities.
The film will be made in three languages - Hindi, English an Italian - and travels from the times of the Great Depression during the Second World War in Europe to the present time.
In the film, Khuntia will share screen space with Italian-American singer Nadia Lanfranconi, actors Jeremy Marr Williams and Kenneth Dixon.
Khuntia will be seen as a dharma guru in the film that dwells a lot on mysticism. "Next month, I am travelling to Varanasi, where the first phase of the film will be shot and then will head for Vienna for the rest of the shoot. I am quite excited as the film will give me an opportunity to travel abroad and meet new people," says Khuntia.
This might be his first stint with Hollywood but he has already appeared in a number of Odia films. "I have been passionate about acting since childhood. Although I have dedicated my life to serving the Lord but I love acting," said the servitor.
A theatre artiste, Khuntia has acted in over 200 plays. He began his acting career with one of the oldest theatre groups in the state, Annapurna, and gradually took to working in films such as Odia Pua, Jay Jagannath and Abhimanyu.
He stopped working in films in 2007 because he wanted to spend more time serving the Lord. "There was a point in my life when I realised that I was ignoring the Lord due to acting and I did not want that to happen. Since then, I have been spending most of my time serving the Lord," he said. So what urged him to take up Melody?
"I got the opportunity in the Lord's abode. Being religious by nature, I felt it might be that's what the Lord wants me to do. So, I took the offer," he said.
