During the Covid-19 pandemic, a well-known choreographer of cine industry has turned a tea seller on a village street for livelihood.
Sauling Padhiali of P Nuagaon village under Beguniapda block in Ganjam district, who had started his career as a choreographer and earned fame in both Bollywood and Ollywood as well as Jollywood, has taken to selling tea to support his family these days due to the pandemic that has almost paralysed the entertainment industry.
Not only tea, the 29-year-old Padhiali is also selling rabidi (a delicious condensed-milk-based dessert) at his shop by the roadside near his village.
Born in Gujarat, Sauling alias Guru was raised by her mother Budhi under poverty after he lost his father at an age of 10 years. Gradually, he was fascinated towards dance and he learnt the skill from a dance teacher of Gujarat. By the age of only 14, he became an expert in dance. In the course of time, he stepped into film industry after coming in contact with Director Deepak Rajput of Ahmedabad.
In 2017, Guru choreographed for a track ‘Hare Krishna Hare Ram’ in ‘Commando 2’, which was his first Bollywood film directed by Deven Bhojani. He takes the credit for his creative skills in choreography in two Odia films ‘Bindas’ and ‘Jaga Hatare Pagha’. He had also assisted the leading choreographer in the Odia film ‘Sundergarh Ra Salman Khan’.
Besides, he is quite popular among artists as a successful choreographer in a few Jatras and Odia albums.
However, Guru’s life turned drastically after the Central government imposed lockdown in the wake of Covid-19 outbreak. He returned to his native village from Gujarat empty-handed. After struggling for five months, he opened the tea stall.
He gets a profit of Rs 200-300 per day from his shop.
After coming to know about Guru’s talent, Beguniapada Block Supplies Officer Sharat Behera has provided him assistance under a Government programme and assured him of taking steps to include him under the food security scheme.
Guru, who lives with his mother, wife Maheswari and two sons at his village, said, “Everything is in the hands of God.”
