The Jengaburu Curse director Nila Madhab Panda: Cli-fi because climate change is affecting us all so badly, I felt this story needed to be told

The Jengaburu Curse director Nila Madhab Panda, who's previously made Kadvi Hawa (2017) and I Am Kalam (2010).

Odisha-born, Delhi-based documentary and feature filmmaker Nila Madhab Panda takes on an ambitious subject for his debut in the OTT space. The director of I Am Kalam (2010) and the National Award winning Kadvi Hawa (2017), is reputed for tackling subjects related to social causes and climate change. The Jengabaru Curse (Sony Liv), his first web series, is described as a ‘cli-fi thriller’. Set in Odisha and starring Faria Abdullah, Nasser, Makrand Deshpande among others, the show looks at the discomforting impact of man’s endless greed and exploitation of natural resources.

Excerpts from an interview with Nila Madhab Panda:

Did you set out to make a ‘cli-fi’ (climate fiction) thriller?

Actually, it happened after. Once we finished the seventh episode we asked, what have we made? Sometimes till you finish making something, you don't know how to describe it to the audience. Given the long  format and because of the kind of script I had, it was quite challenging. The main conflict is about a hill. It all begins with a small legend. From Goa to Kerala and Odisha, anywhere you go in our county there are legends. If someone makes a temple on a hill, the simple fact is that the mountain might have bauxite and bauxite is a perennial source of water. The day you take out the hill, it stops feeding water to the river and it gets dry. So, my story is very simple. Sometimes people ask me why I make environmental films. When there are bomb blasts and underworld attacks in Mumbai, people make 20-25 films on those subjects. I am affected every day by rising temperatures; there are frequent devastating cyclones in Odisha; villages are getting submerged; there are heat waves in Europe. So, cli-fi because it is affecting us all so badly and I felt this story needed to be told.

What was the inspiration for this story?

The origin is very simple. It's almost like my own journey. I grew up in a very humble village, with a small river, forest, food, everything. And then I started coming to Delhi. I grew up, becoming a globetrotter. And then you realize that wherever you go, you have a problem. Like the other day I went for dinner with friends and everyone was talking about weather conditions or disease. Isn't that a clear example of how we are affected? In terms of needs, we have everything. But greed has become unstoppable. Look at this irony. Human beings are so sensitive, so brainy. Yet, we are destroying our own home. Water shortage somewhere, floods elsewhere. Some people would rather dedicate resources to making rockets to find water on another planet, while the man making the rocket cannot even reach his home. First clean your own house. How do I tell such a grave story? Jengaburu is a fictional place. It means red mountain.

Is this a cautionary tale or a story based on reality?

It's based on many realities. So everything you are watching in the story, from the UK whistle-blower, from the villain perspective, the places, these tribal places, indigenous people’s suffering and displacement -- everything comes from certain realities and multiple incidents. I have cast real tribals and made them act. Though the name of the tribe is fictionalized. We mixed two or three tribes and created a culture, which is close to them. I created a tribal language, music and costumes for them. Metaphorically, the show spotlights how precious this land is, how precious this small hill is, and how precious the trees in a small village in the tribal area. Something happens in this remote village that manages to shake the London Stock Exchange. So, how precious that land must be is my story.

Faria Abdullah in The Jengabaru Curse, streaming on SonyLIV.

You have a pan-Indian cast. How did you put this set of actors together and why?

It was very interesting. The show is a local story, but it's a global show which can be relatable in Africa and Australia also. India is a vast country and I wanted a pan India show. We were shooting in Odisha with one character being a Malayali IAS officer. There's a Telugu man working in an NGO. It's really a mix of many things. Even the locations have been diverse as Delhi, Odisha, London and Myanmar. Over three years, I travelled to a lot of mining areas and tribal areas in Odisha to find the locations. Finally I set the show in a district bordering Jharkhand.

Your last film, Kalira Atita (2020), also tackled climate change.

I realised that it was almost like a futuristic film where the planet will be a water world. But this show is more about present time, reality, greed, which we are facing every day. It's now, it's here.

You spent a long time on this show – at least three years, getting the script right, finding locations, shooting. How did this project challenge you as a filmmaker?

As a creator, location plays a very important role in your head. I think staying away from the world of cinema, not living in Mumbai, I think it is challenging. At the same time, you are following two passions. First is to create cinema, which you like, in whatever format. Secondly, I keep on pushing boundaries to tell those stories which I feel are important and I constantly talk about the environment. That is pretty challenging. I made Kadvi Hawa in 2016 and every week I still get messages about it from different parts of the world. That means that film is valuable and still in people's minds. If I make Jengaburu today, it is on the platform and can be watched for years. I made I Am Kalam 13-14 years ago and people still talk about that film, which means I don't need a Rs 100 crore budget or a big star. My films have that impact in some way. So I'm happy.