Orissa Cinema

By Ashok Palit

Following the heels of season’s top releases, upcoming is the new Oriya film “Samaya Hatare Dori“. This star-studded extravaganza is awaiting its Mahurat on July 17th.

“Samaya Hatare Dori” is produced by Choudhary Ashok Das, and directed by Amulya Das. The much-awaited film stars some of the biggest names in Oriya film industry: Aparajita, Mihir Das, Anu, Debajani, Hadu, and Braja.

Stay tuned and look out for more on this space for the updates on “Samaya Hatare Dori”!

Please click on the photographs or here, to access the full gallery of Samaya Hatare Dori!

Remember E Mana Manena?

The Mihir Das/Arindam/Kajal/Barsha starrer is currently running houseful and also is mired with controversies.

The film has entered into a legal problem as Hyderabad-based film production house M/s Prasad Production Pvt Ltd (PPPL) has alleged the movie has violated Copyright Act.

The movie `Ea Mana Manena’ produced under the banner M/s Maa Bhavani Pictures of Bhubaneswar was released on March 29 just hours before a lower court in Bhubaneswar had restrained its producer from releasing the movie. The producer of the movie Bijaya Kumar claimed as the movie was released before the court verdict was pronounced, the court’s ruling had become “in-fructuos” and the same was not binding on him. The young film producer, who has made a movie after almost a decade of his premier movie in 1995, has also challenged the lower court’s order in Orissa High Court. A fast track court of Bhubaneswar had on March 29 restrained the producer from releasing its movie after taking up a petition filed by the managing director of PPPL. The PPPL in its petition had prayed for an ad-interim injuction against Bijaya Kumar and urged the court to restrain him from releasing his movie as the later has violated the Copyright Act. The Hyderabad-based film production house claimed in his petition that the Oriya movie is a copy of a Telugu blockbuster film `Arya’.

The managing director of PPPL in his petition had claimed that he had purchased the copyright of the Telugu film in January 2006 for Rs 37 lakhs to make films in other different languages, including Oriya language. But the Oriya film producer maintains that the storyline of his romantic movie is entirely of his own and he has not copied it from any other cinema. “I have never seen the Telugu film `Arya’ nor have I read or heard about its content. I released my movie after obtaining a certificate from the Censor Board, Kolkata,” Bijaya Kumar who is also in construction business told mediapersons here .

Petition filed

He also said his movie was running full house in many places and it would be released in other cinema houses of the soon. In order to avoid any further legal hassles over his movie, Bijaya Kumar also filed an application before the Orissa High Court on Monday urging the court to set aside the lower court’s order of March 29.

Did you know the legendary Bollywood star Mithun Chakraborty is largely responsible for making an Oriya film a runaway hit?

“Ae Jugara Krushna Sudama”, released across Orissa in January, is back at as many as 11 cinema theatres for a second time primarily because of the performance of the Bengali actor, who dazzled Bollywood with his dancing in the 1980s.

Basanta Naik’s Brajaraj Movies has produced A Jugara Krushna Sudama , which features Mithun in a lead role. “People in Orissa have shown extra interest to watch this movie,” a thrilled Naik said.

About eight Oriya films had been released since January, but A Jugara Krushna Sudama was the only one that had been a commercial success, the producer said.

Directed by Hara Patnaik, A Jugara Krushna Sudama is Naik’s 12th Oriya movie. It is the story of two friends, one poor and the other rich. Mithun plays the poor friend while Uttam Mohanty, a top Oriya actor, plays the rich one.

Naik is perhaps the only Oriya film producer who has risked roping in stars from Bollywood and Bengali cinema to add to a movie’s appeal. He had cast Raakhi Gulzar in his film Maa in the 1990s.

“Maa was a super hit at that time. I also introduced Prasenjit, Debashree Roy and Sujit Kumar (from Bengali cinema) before Orissa audiences. However, Mithun’s film has broken all past records,” Naik said.

This is the first time Mithun has played the lead role in an Oriya film. Earlier, he had made a guest appearance in Sahara Jaluchi .

“I saw his guest appearance in Sahara Jaluchi and decided to take him in my movie. He spoke good Oriya,” Naik said.

The experience of working with the star of such Bollywood hits as Disco Dancer was enriching, said the producer.

“We learnt many things from him. Mithun was very punctual and sincere. We had a 28-day schedule of shooting for him but one of the leading stars was ill. Therefore, we had to extend it to 62 days and Mithun cooperated. Looking at the commercial success (of A Jugara Krushna Sudama ), I am planning to dub the film in Bengali and Chattishgari languages,” added Naik.

Is Ollywood in dire need of moral pundits and censor boards? Will the creativity of latest genre of lyricists and composers be affected by the way their freedoms are restricted? Or are they simply abusing the liberties while pretending their works to be reflections of society at large?

The answers may be more complicated than they appear. Perhaps, we need a censor board not just for films and music, but also for the way the society is conducting itself in the current political anarchy. However for now, some leading film personalities are holding our cinema culture responsible.

In the latest round, the Orissa Cine Critic Association has criticized the vulgarity in Oriya cinema and music. In a seminar organized in Bhubaneswar, the Association has proposed that tax rebate should only be made available to original Oriya films and not remakes. It has also proposed that a censor board to screen music should be immediately formed comprising lyricists, composers, music critics, etc., while a similar censor committee should keep tabs on the video albums keeping in view the vulgarity of costumes, poses and lyrics. Subsequent to this, CDs cleared by the committee can only be telecast in various channels including the Door Darshan.

In this regard, a memorandum has been submitted to the State Culture Minister to act on. “It is now the time of remakes and remixes. Oriya cinema and music have been vitiated by crass commercialization because of some dubious elements. The vulgarity and banality is crossing all limits,” according to the association. Included among those who advocate for the censor boards are filmmaker Prashant Nanda, musician Prafulla Kar and actor George Tiadi. Cine critic association secretary Dillip Hali, highlighting the steps being taken in Maharashtra, asked the Government to come up with remedial measures immediately in the light of the memorandum presented. The event was organized in collaboration with the cultural outfit `Sanskruti O Sanskruti’.

From Afar

A weekly column by
Sahasranshu Mahapatra, New Delhi

“A good story well told cuts across all boundaries”— once said the Oscar nominated director Mira Nair. This also holds good for Sabyasachi Mahapatra’s new film ‘Jai Jagannath’. A seasoned director like Mr Mahapatra has roped in on the legendary story of the great devotee ‘Shriya Chandaluni’ (the divine sweeper) to attract the audience across the country as well as abroad. This version of the story is different in many ways from its initial celluloid version. The ‘Jai Jagannath’ team includes famous names of Oriya film industry Sadhu Meher, Sarat Pujari, Sritam and Jyoti Mishra. This is going to be the first Oriya film to be released in 13 other languages besides Hindi and English. Bollywood bigwig Bharat Shah has pumped money into it and Adlab Films is releasing it all over the country.

Anybody from Orissa is well aware of the story of ‘Shriya Chandaluni’ and Lord Jagannath. But this story is not a mere depiction of an Oriya scripture of ‘Laxmi Puran’ . Beyond the religious belief the story has two distinct features– casteism and glorification of a woman (wife) in a Hindu family. This story also narrates the women empowerment, abolition of caste system—at least in the temple and the importance of a woman in one’s family life. This is enough to attract the non-Oriya audience. Association of Bharat Shah as well as Adlab Films with the project substantiates the fact that a good story, well narrated, has all the potential to spin money in the glamour world.

After ‘Bhuka’ Sabyasachi Mahapatra has again banked on the well known scripture of ‘Laxmi Puran’ to garner a pan-Indian audience support for Oriya cinema. The efforts of Mr. Mahapatra and his team seems to be very promising but the question of the moment is whether this is the beginning of a new era for the Oriya film industry or the quest for resurgence of the original Oriya films will still stretch far? But everything will depend on how far the film stands upto the litmus test of the box office collection.

Industry insiders have no hesitation in accepting that the new age filmmakers are largely dependent on Bangla, Telugu or Bollywood films for new ideas. There is largely a crisis of new and innovative ideas in the film industry in Orissa. Can the industry now rope in on Oriya literary heritage to save its status which has reached at the verge of ‘identity crisis’ in terms of content ?

Unfortunately recent Ollywood has not witnessed many cinematic adaptations of literary works. The money minded producers have never thought of taking a risk. Those who dared to tell heart touching stories on celluloid have often been cornered as the ‘art filmmakers’. Their films have failed the box office test though they have created an identity for the Oriya film industry across the globe. At the same time, stalwarts like Raju Mishra, Amiya Patnaik, Ravi Kinnagi , Sisir Mishra and Hara Patnaik have been trying to explore new avenues in commercial cinema but the crisis of establishing an Oriya identity in celluloid world is still looming large.

One must not forget that Orissa has witnessed many celluloid adaptations of literary works. The list is quite elegant with the master pieces like Kaa, Badhunirupama, Adina Megha, Amada Bata, Matira Manisha, Abhimana, Adimimansha, Maya Miriga, Kaberi, Subarna Sita, Aranyaka, Chha Mana Atha Guntha, Lakshmira Abhisara, Gare Sindura Dhare Luha and many more. People like Manmohan Mahapatra, Nirad Mahapatra, Himanshu Khatua and Sabyasachi Mahapatra have been trying to bridge the gap between commercial cinema and art cinema, while delivering some excellent products of this popular art form. But whenever it comes to the reputation of the industry we are losing to an infamous belief of borrowing ideas from our neighbors.

Perhaps it is the time to introspect and to invest a sustained effort to reinstate that lost glory of Ollywood. We Oriyas have a rich cultural and literary heritage which can be transformed into exemplary celluloid saga. The need of the hour is to have a look within and an honest desire to create own Oriya identity in this world of light and shades.

Veteran Sabyasachi Mahapatra has shown the way and let us hope the new comers will reestablish the lost glory following same path.

From Afar

A weekly column by
Sahasranshu Mahapatra, New Delhi

“Now FM (Frequency Modulation) mobile phones and radio sets are on high demand in Bhubaneswar.”

This was the information from my friend, on his maiden visit to Delhi recently. This has made me little more enthusiastic about the entertainment business in Orissa. This shows that the FM radio, within a month of its launch since May, is slowly emerging as a big business in the twin city of Cuttack and Bhubaneswar, the entertainment heartland of Orissa. I think the FM radio has reached at a right time to provide the healing touch to a bereaved industry, still struggling with the aftermath of the 1999 Super cyclone.

Being a highly localised medium, FM radio stations come up with lot of promises for the state, be it employment or business. If the results of other metro cities are to be believed then Ollywood will also not be far from minting money in collaboration with the radio industry in the state. But everything will depend on how the Ollywood insiders are ready to tap these opportunities.

As the employment and business opportunities expand in the twin city, the immediate beneficiaries will be the artists, technicians, producers and musicians. Being largely driven by the film music the producers and music composers will have a fair chance to encash on their old musics by selling of radio rights. The advertising industry will also widely depend on the scriptwriters, artists, musicians and audio studios for the production of radio jingles. This slowly will open up round the year business opportunity for the concerned sections in the industry and so as the better earning.

Being a personal medium the radio has an immense potential to create an instant appeal and mass awareness. The film producers in the state should now learn to collaborate with a new medium like radio for the publicity of the films. The collaboration for braodcasting of Mahurats, live shoots and premiere shows will create mass awareness among the audience. This in turn will draw more cine-goers to the theatres. The radio partnership has become a successful formula for the Bollywood producers and the result is quite distinct in the south as well. So this is the time for Ollywood producers to take a cue from their Bollywood counterparts.

The opportunities also comes with responsibilities and challenges. Be it television, radio or film the growing competition and expanding business have always taken serious toll on content. To mint easy money the producers often adopt the populist approach which may not work for a family centric audience base in Orissa. The responsibility before the Oriya film industry will be not to succumb to the pressure of a highly demanding business and the growing competition while delivering the same quality content acceptable to the Oriya viewers. The challenge will be to meet the demand of a more enthusiastic,alert and aware audience as radio will create a mass appeal towards film in Orissa.

Orissa witnessed its first ever FM radio station with the launch of Choklate FM this April by the Esasern Media Pvt Ltd. The big players in the industry like Reliance owned Adlab’s Big FM( 92.7 MHz) has entered the Orissa market and the latest to join the fray is the South Indian media leader Sun group with S FM (93.5 MHz). This adds to the credibility of Bhubaneswar as the emerging entertainment business hub in Eastern India. If media reports are to be believed the All India Radio’s FM channels Rainbow and Gold will also be available in Orissa soon. Like the other metro cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Kolkata, no doubt the FM radio will have a significant impact on the show business in the state.

This is just the beginning and emerging scenario seems to be quite glossy. But the future will mostly depend how the Big brothers of Ollywood channelise every possibility into a success story. But the caution must not be ignored while jolting down the stories of the achievers. That not the ‘sibling rivalry’ as prominently noticed in this industry but cordial relationship will prove healthy for both film and FM radio business in the state.

All the Best Ollywood friends!

From Afar

A weekly column by
Sahasranshu Mahapatra, New Delhi

A song on a TV Channel caught my attention one evening. The song was from Hara Patnayak’s latest ‘Pagal Premi’ on the ETV Oriya channel. An Oriya song picturised on the roof top of a moving train and depicting the specialties of various places of Orissa was enough to attract the eyeballs of a film enthusiast from Orissa staying in Delhi.

But all enthusiasm faded away as the song continued. It suddenly reminded me of a popular Bollywood chartbuster. This song seemed to be a mere Oriya imitation of the AR Rahman composed ‘Chal Chaiya Chaiya’ from Mani Ratnam’s critically acclaimed ‘Dil Se’ (1997). There were many similarities between the two songs starting from costume to picturisation to the composition with a Rajasthani folk choreography.

Few days latter, after going through some stories on the film ‘Pagal Premi’, the grim picture turned to be a hopeful beginning. The much cherished on-screen badman of Ollywood, Hara Patnaik, has been criticized for being an expensive director. And yet his unmatched for quest of innovation and a consistent effort to explore the new possibilities has created some hope in last few years for the Oriya film industry. This song in the in the film ‘Pagal Premi’ is surely a bold step and talks of a lot of promise for the yet to be explored possibilities in the celluloid journey of the Oriyas.

Orissa is slowly emerging as a strategic location for film business in eastern region of the country. People involved with film business have started considering Bhubaneswar at par with Kolkata as the budding business centre. In this case the directors , producers, artists, technicians and all those who involved in this show-biz-world have to look beyond mere imitation or adoption of the Hindi or other language films in Oriya.

We must not forget that the Oriyas had created their identity in the celluloid world (Sita Vivah -1934-35) before establishing the geographical identity of Orissa as a state. We have a heritage of literature and culture which can be transformed into interesting stories on celluloid.

The adaptation and imitation is always welcome in the creative world but it must carry the original Oriya flavour in it.

And finally, let us hope Hara Patnaik has put forward the step already and many more to follow.

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For a gallery of images related to “Mu Tote Love Karuchi” film, click here.

After successful production of 17 Oriya romantic movies, 18th production of Brajaraj Movies Oriya feature film `Mu tote love karuchhi’, had its mahurat recently at Gadgadeswar Temple. Film maker Basant Nayak inaugurated the first shot by switching on the camera. The shooting which is expected to be completed within 45 days includes locations such as Cuttack, Bhubaneswar, Puri and Dhenkanal.

About the film:
According to producer of Brajraj Movies Sanjay Nayak, “the movie’s story line is based on a love triangle, revenge and subsequent sacrifice.” The film also has six songs.

Credits:
Producer, Story: Sanjay Nayak
Executive Producer: Binay Nayak,
Dialogue, Screenplay: Ranjit Patnaik
Music Director: Swarup Nayak
Screenplay, Direction: Ashok Pati

Fight: Raju Master
Dance: Sudhakar
Camera: Ramesh
Publicity photographer: Bishnu Moharana
Makeup Man: Kapil
Costume: Nirmal Das
Art Direction: Rabi Moharana
Production: Ajaya Naik, Gautam Samal
Joint direction: Hara Rath, Sangram Mohanty, Amar Pati Playback: Kumar Bapi, Tapu Mishra, Udit Narayan,

Artists: Bijay Mohanty, Uttam Mohanty, Ajit Das, Anita Das, Tandra Ray , Namita Das, Mihir Das, Siddhanta Mohapatra, Arindam, Jayiram Samal, Sasmita Pradhan, Namrata Thappa, Mamuni Mishra, Hadu, Tanveer, Salil Mitra, and Bobby Mishra.

Photos: Ashok Panda

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Industry Minister Biswa Bhushan Harichandan, Mines Minister Padmanabha Behera at the inauguration of Kalinga Digital Recording Studio on Sunday at Kalinga Studio. Orissacinema Photos by Ashok Panda.

Monika O My Darling is slated for release next week. Its a rip-roaring comedy awaited eagerly. Following are the details. For the complete gallery, please click here!

Presented by: Debraj Movies
Producer: Binapani Sahu
Director: Nilamani Sahoo
Assistant Director: Ratikanta Sahu, Prasanta Siddhu
Story, Dialogue: Nilamani Sahoo
Sound: Asmita Das
Camera: Ajit
Makeup: Sankar, Mantu
Costum: Amiya
LIghts: Maa Mangala Cine Equipment
Spot: Bulu, Rabi
Lightsmen: Kapila, Amulya, Kalia
Transport: Mumi, Tukula, Butu
Artists: Rabi Mishra, Mamuni Mishra, Hari, Hadu, Chakradhara Jena, Pintu Nanda, Rajdip, Suman, Rachita, Baby Pradhan, Aksaya Bastia, Santosh, Tulu, Rabi, Duji, Kuna, Umesh, Bikash, Prashant, Bitusmita, and Nilamani
Special thanks to: S Routray (Bapi), Kailash Ch, Sethi, and Jooz Company.

Story: Four heroes and three heroines star in this serious comedy cinema. Confusions strife high as the male protagonists fall for Monika, the heroine, without realizing her actual class status. And as events start unfolding and the realities hit the suitors, the movie turns into nothing less than a great comic relief.