He would have likely ended up as one among the million plus migrant labourers from Odisha sweating it at brick kilns, construction sites or at farmlands. But 25-year-old Rajkumar Nayak from Jhalipada village of Kandhamal district instead ended up acting in Malayalam movie Jallikattu, India’s official entry to Oscar this year.
Nayak played the role of a Bangladeshi in Jallikattu, a movie revolving around a buffalo that escapes from the local butcher’s farm and runs amok till it is finally captured. “I never dreamt that one day I would act in a movie that was nominated for Oscar awards. It was beyond my imagination,” said Nayak, now a resident of Angamaly town of Kochi in Kerala. Jalikattu was Nayak’s 6th movie in the last 4 years.
One of the four sons of a daily labourer in tribal-dominated Kandhamal district, Nayak’s each day was earlier defined by struggle. “After finishing my high school exam in 2012, I enrolled in Netaji Subhas higher secondary school in Tumudibandh. However, my father could no longer pay for my tuition fees and I had to drop out,” said Nayak.
In 2012, he left for Angamaly town of Kerala’s Kochi, along with a few of his friends, to work as a waiter in a hotel, where he also washed dishes and learnt cooking. While working at the hotel, he joined a local gym, where he came in contact with Anson Antony, a gym instructor and a supporting actor in Malayalam movies.
{{/usCountry}}In 2012, he left for Angamaly town of Kerala’s Kochi, along with a few of his friends, to work as a waiter in a hotel, where he also washed dishes and learnt cooking. While working at the hotel, he joined a local gym, where he came in contact with Anson Antony, a gym instructor and a supporting actor in Malayalam movies.
{{/usCountry}}It was Antony who helped Nayak get the cook’s job at Malayalam director Lijo Jose Pelissery’s house. “The director and his team were very impressed with my cooking. In 2017, director sir (Pellissery) asked whether I could act. I said I had not done it ever but will give it a try. They offered me a small role in the film Ea Ma Yu. I completed the 20 second shot in one take. The director praised me and assured help in building a career in acting,” he said.
Thereafter, he signed one film after another. After Ee Ma Yu, he acted in Addu 2, Swatantra Ardharatri, Whal Nachetra and Kadathanadan Katha.
Director Pellissery, who directed Jallikattu, said Rajkumar was a wonderful actor. “I know him for the past 3-4 years and he is a wonderful actor and very hardworking. I would love to see Rajkumar in a few Odia films,” he said. Nayak himself wants to get a break in Odia movies.
In his native village, Rajkumar’s family as well as fellow villagers are proud of him and wished to see him in Odia films. “People of our village are praising my son. He has made me proud,” said Kamaldei Nayak, his mother.