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When was the last time you watched an Odia film? Or did you ever watch one? Cinema in India is wrongly associated mostly with cinema in the Hindi language, which is just a small portion of the cinema that is produced in India today. But it is time that we move beyond Hindi movies, especially Bollywood movies, and delve into more of regional cinema that upholds the everyday lived realities of India today. Here are Homegrown’s top 10 picks of movies from Odisha.
I. ‘Capital I’ by Amartya Bhattacharyya
Written and directed by Amartya Bhattacharyya, Capital I is an existential psychodrama and the first independent feature film of India. It revolves around a mysterious and unknown artist and depicts the transformation of the mind of a young girl whereby she finds herself trapped in between realistic relationships and attractions and a strange relationship with her hallucinatory lesbian partner.
Being the first film to explore LGBTQ issues, the film was opposed by several people in Odisha at the time it was made. However, the film made its mark at around 20 international film festivals, including the likes of the 20th International Film Festival of Kerala and Festival du Film d’Asie du Sud Transgressif (Paris), and Bengaluru International Film Festival, amongst others.
II. ‘Pahada Ra Luha’ by Sabyasachi Mohapatra
Titled “Tears of mountains” in English, Sabyasachi Mohapatra’s Pahada Ra Luha is a moving tale of displacement, capturing the real feelings and difficulties of the Paraja tribes of Koraput district. It deals with the problems faced by the ethnic communities of Niyamgiri hills owing to rampant mining and rebel activities. It is named ‘Pahada Ra Luha’ because the tribals live being dependent on the mountains and survive in its lap. The mountain is like their mother, who weeps when her children face troubles. Hence the title of the movie justifies the trials and tribulations of the tribals. The movie has been shot in different locations across Andhra Pradesh and Niyamgiri in the Koraput district of Odisha. This movie shows how dalals (pimps) take the help of ministers to influence innocent tribal people to become Naxalites. This movie also deals with the solutions to get rid of the Naxal problems in Odisha.
III. ‘Bhija Matira Swarga’ by Manmohan Mahapatra
The film patiently observes the characters, watching them go through intriguing moments, encountering them in their own ways. Shakuntala, a widow, is worried about her only son, Aru, who is yet to get a job and settle down in life.
However, Aru gets a call to attend an interview for a good placement in a known firm, in Bhubaneswar. In the meantime, the girl with whom he had an affair gets married off to someone else. Aru after learning about that, sends her a voice mail, in which he mentions among other things that perhaps what happened had to happen, but then life won’t stop. Life shall go on. It is perhaps what the theme of the film is, as well.
IV. ‘Shesha Shrabana’ by Prashant Nanda
Directed by Prashant Nanda, it is a 1976 Odia movie based on Basant Mahapatra’s novel by the same name. On finding a girl by the river, a fisherman took her home to look after her. When the girl gets well and they take her to her parents, they refused to take her in, since she had cohabited with a lower caste. The film further shows the relationship between the fisherman and the girl, and how they eventually fall apart in the face of societal forces, which disdains a love affair between an lower caste man and an upper caste woman. This movie shows how the reality of caste restricts interactions and any loving relationship to develop between the two, thereby showing one of the most ugly aspects of Indian society.
V. ‘Aadim Vichar’ by Sabyasachi Mohapatra
Odia film ‘Aadim Vichar’ (The Ancient Justice), directed by award-winning filmmaker Sabyasachi Mohapatra, was selected for the 62nd National Award under ‘Best Odia Feature Film’ category in 2015. The film was a sequel of ‘Sala budha’, based on the life of the Kondh community of Odisha, penned by Mohapatra’s father Kapileswar Prasad. It showcases the simple and untainted life of tribal people and how it becomes complicated once they come in contact with educated people.
VI. ‘Hello Arsi’ by Sambit Mohanty
‘Hello Arsi’ is a 2018 Indian Odia romantic drama film written and directed by Sambit Mohanty, and produced by Ajaya Routray. The film stars Partha Sarathi Ray and Prakruti Mishra. The film tells the story of a girl named Arsi from Rourkela, India, who becomes a sex worker to survive. It explores topics of social alienation and industrialization, focusing more on ideas and actions rather than the characters. Breaking all stereotypes, FTIIan Mohanty successfully experimented with the unconventional way of film making which captivates the audience till the climax. Each and every dialogue narrates the philosophy of life. The movie is a cluster of ideas rather than a regular story line.
VII. ‘Aranya Rodan’ by Biplab Ray Chaudhuri
‘Aranya Rodan’ is a 1993 Indian Odia film directed by Biplab Ray Chaudhuri, based on the novel Ashanta Arayana by Odia writer, Satakadi Hota. In this film, Kalyani (Priyambada Ray) is a journalist, who is investigating the rape and subsequent murder of a tribal woman by a police man in rural Odisha. She adopts the child of the dead woman and starts getting involved with the tribals’ lives even as her own married life has its share of problems.
VIII. ‘Kathantara’ by Himanshu Khatua
Much before the Tsunami became a household name all over the world, the coastal belts of Odisha were hit by what has come to be known as the “Super Cyclone” that killed more than 10,000 people and rendered still more homeless. ‘Kathantara’, a 2007 Indian Oriya language disaster film directed by Himansu Khatua is a story of tribulations of the 1999 Odisha cyclone, with particular emphasis on Kalpana, a young widow.
IX. ‘Magunira Shagada’ by Prafulla Mohanty
Based on a short story by Godavarish Mahapatra, ‘Magunira Shagada’ is a 2002 Indian Odia film directed by Prafulla Mohanty. The plot revolves around Maguni, who owns and drives a bullock cart. His business of driving people and goods is less efficient than that of the new mini buses, and he is increasingly unable to adapt to the changing circumstances. When his wife catches an illness which she does not survive, Maguni eventually becomes insane and dies.
X. ‘Dhare Aluo’ by Sagir Ahmed
‘Dhare Aluo’(1983) directed by Sagir Ahmed depicts the murder of the wife of a radical journalist. Hemant, the scribe who is wrongfully sentenced to jail, sends his children Bulu and Runu, for their security, to a family acquaintance in another village. Unable to withstand the tortures, the children flee this place and take shelter at a stranger doctor’s place. Doctor Rudra is retired and his son Lalit is a rebel with a cause who has taken it unto himself to undo the wrongs caused by perpetrators in the society.
Lalit’s wife Sumitra lends her positive spirit in both the situations and stays with her father-in-law. Amidst the lost hopes and subdued convictions, the children bring in a ray of hope. Not everything is lost. Children are devoid of the irrelevant complexities and the failed ideologues, the blind adherence and the mindless radicalisms. They are the rays of new light that was ‘Dhare Aluo’.
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