Life and Career

Late Dukhiram Swain was born in Daraba, Jagatsinghpur district, Odisha. He was a linguist and could speak several languages fluently. He started his acting career from Annapurna Theatre (Katak). His first movie was Sri Loknath (1960). He was mostly offered negative roles and over the years he developed a cult status in this genre of acting. On contrary to the villainous characters he portrayed in his films, he was very social & generous and was also member of various organizations. Matira Manisha (1967), Jajabar (1975), Shesha Shrabana (1976), Phula Chandana (1982), Sashti (1989), Paradeshi Chadhei (1991) and Rana Bhumi (1994) are some of his most notable films. He has acted almost all kinds of roles ranging from hero, villain, comedian, character roles etc.

From Newspaper Columns

Circa 1976, Shesha Shrabana was on the floor. Mahasweta Ray, enacting a village lass, had to take bath in a pond and the local bad man was supposed to attempt rape. The camera cranked. The fiendishness with which the character, Nidhi Mishra, went about the scene; the evil stare and rolling eyeballs; caused Mahasweta to faint. The rest is history. The film among all its glory will forever be remembered for Nidhi Mishra’s villainy essayed by Dukhiram Swain.

Thirty-three years have passed after Shesha Shrabana (1976) became a big hit, and Dukhiram Swain is no more today. Odia Film Industry has since seen many brutes on the screen, but he still remains the ultimate in the industry.

Evil zamindars have been the villains of the cinema since its beginning. The concept, naturally, found its source from Hindi films. But it was Mrinal Sen’s Matira Manisha (1967) that gave Odia film viewers the first peek into sheer villainy on celluloid. Dukhiram Swain shone like fire in his role as a village tout who tries to wedge a divide between two brothers.

The cinema in the state did see many other villains later. Krushna Chandra Pandey, Pira Mishra, Netrananda Mishra, Asit Pati, Niranjan Satpathy, Raimohan Parida, Mihir Das, Minaketan, Hara Patnaik – Each one had a unique style and gave the art of villainy varied shades. But none could leap above the bar Dukhiram Swain set. Be it the avaricious money lender or the capricious henchman plotting and scheming, people just loved to hate his presence. Gone are Dukhiram Swain’s days; today no actor has a permanent slot for villain or hero. The audience expects versatility.

Not surprisingly, the audience looks forward to versatility from an actor, that regular excellence in a role; even of that of a villain. Notes editor-director Susant Mani: It’s good to watch young actors like Manoj Mishra, Bobby Mishra and Sabyasachi Mishra performing all shades of a character. But even he doesn’t seem to believe that their villainous roles matched Dukhiram Swain’s.

Personal Life

He was married to the late Mrs. Hemalata Swain. He is survived by two sons and one daughter.

Some images credit: Dukhiram Swain official Facebook page