Kaa - 1965

  • Banner:

    Sarathi Films Indrapuri Studio, Technician Studio & Radha Films Studio

  • Produced by:

    Gour Prashad Ghose & Parbati Ghose

  • Director:

    Siddharth (Ram Chandra Thakur, Gour Ghose & Parbati Ghose)

  • Story:

    Kanhucharan Mohanty

  • Screenplay & Dialogue:

    Sarada Naik

  • Camera:

    Deoji Bhai & Bijoy De

  • Editor:

    Madhu Banerjee

  • Music:

    Sri Kumar (Bhubaneswar Mishra)

  • Lyrics:

    Narasingha Mahapatra, Sarada Naik & Debdas Chottray

  • Playback Singers:

    Sandhya Mukherjee, Nirmala Misra, Raghunath Panigrahi, Akshaya Mohanty & Pranab Patnaik

  • Dance Director:

    Mayadhar Rout

  • Dancers:

    Kasturi Naik & Others

  • Special Appearance by:

    Famed Dance Exponent, Sanjukta Panigrahi

  • Make-Up:

    Trilochan Pal & Debi Haldar

  • Costume:

    Khirod Naik

  • CAST:

    Gour Prasad as Sunanda

    Chandana (Parbati Ghose) as Nandika

    Geeta as Lalita

    Monimala as Sunanda’s Mother

    Krushnachandra Pandey, Byomakesh

    Mena, Kumud, Purnachand, Sarojini, Rukmini

    Parul, Krushna, Sarat, Kunja Nanda

    Sudhanshu Naik, Subash Naik, Swaroop Naik

    Noor Md., Raju, Babaji, Digambar

    Niranjan, Gokuli, Himanshu

    Sarangadhara, Noor Singha, Raghunath

    Suren, Sribachha, Ashok, Mayadhara

    Child Artists: Romi and Lalbibi

Riding the wave of success, Gour Prashad and Parbati Ghose plunged into their next production, “Kaa”, in 1965. This film was based on one of the bestselling Odia novels by the acclaimed writer Kanhu Charan Mohanty.

Ram Chandra Thakur (Thakur Bhai) from Bombay was invited to direct this movie jointly with Gour and Parbati under the pseudonym SIDDHARTH. Gour Ghose had the fortune of Thakur Bhai’s association during his struggling-artiste days in Bombay, now Mumbai.

This movie saw the debut and foray of many artistes into the Odia Cine World:

  • Bhubaneswar Misra became Srikumar.
  • Guru Mayadhar Rout as dance director.
  • Special appearance by famed danseuse Sanjukta Panigrahi.
  • Devdas Chhotray as lyricist. He later became vice chancellor of Ravenshaw College.
  • Comedian Sarat Mohanty and Parbati’s brothers, Sudhanshu Naik, Subhash Naik, and Swarup Naik, played stellar roles.
  • Monimala, Geeta, Mena, and Pandey also had prominent roles.
  • Their children, Romi and Lalbibi, made their onscreen debut.

“Kaa” went on to become their biggest success, earning them name, fame, money, and their second National Award, again in the regional category. Gour and Parbati’s portrayal of their respective characters propelled them to the next level of stardom, becoming synonymous with their film names, ‘Sunanda’ and ‘Nandika’. Kanhu Bhai (Kanhu Charan Mohanty) was overwhelmed by their portrayal and moved to tears, showering his blessings on the couple for immortalizing his work. Then MP Nandini Satpathy attended the premiere and praised their performance.

After the massive success of “Kaa”, Gour and Parbati were inclined to make a film based on Gyanpith Award winner Gopinath Mohanty’s (Kanhu Charan’s younger brother) epic novel ‘Amrutara Santana’, which depicted the struggle, agony, and survival of tribal life. An initiative was taken, and the writer agreed to the film version. However, their dream project could not be materialized due to the sudden demise of the writer.