So, most of us get married within the fraternity,” said Tiki, an actress. The social acceptability of jatra actresses may have increased to a considerable extent over the years, but there is still a stigma attached to them, making it difficult to find a life partner outside the arena of jatra. Today, such is the lure of jatra that there are instances of young girls running away from home to be a part of this industry. Big money and change in social mores brought about a significant transformation as far as participation of women was concerned. The mid-90s heralded a new era for jatra, an exclusively male preserve both in terms of actors and audience. Probably, I would not have earned as much if I would have had a white-collared job,” said Panda, who has been in this field for more than three decades and is a part of the Konark troupe. It didn’t pay much then, but jatra saw a resurgence-of-sorts in the mid-90s and we started getting paid well. “I started taking part in village jatras to supplement my family’s income. Born into a poor Brahmin family at a village in Bhadrak, Panda was forced to drop out of school after completing standard VII and help his father in farming. The successful ones are even performing outside the state in places such as Calcutta and Surat, which have sizeable pockets of Odia-speaking people,” said Baishnab Charan Mohanty, 76, who owned the Janata, Samrat and Sonali Gananatya groups from 1973 to 1996.Īsk Daitari Panda, the immensely popular villain of the jatra world, who has scripted a rags-to-riches story. “Odisha has more than 30 mobile theatre groups, employing over 60,000 people. “ Jatra has started being accepted in growing cities such as Bhubaneswar, which house people of various socio-economic backgrounds,” he said.Īpart from being a big source of entertainment, jatra has also emerged as an alluring career option for many. “Tickets are selling like hot cakes,” said Tutu of the Bagha Jatin Lokanatya, a participating group. The season having set in, at least a dozen jatra troupes have pitched their tents in the foothills of Khandagiri. With an approximate annual revenue of Rs 50 crore, the mobile theatre industry in the state is in a flourishing phase and giving the Odia film fraternity a serious run for its money, five times over.
Call them loud and crass but the masters of ham acting are raking in the moolah.
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