Odisha got its name and status as a unit state in 1936, courtesy the efforts of Odia revolutionaries like Phakir Mohan Senapati, Madhusudan Das, Gopabandhu Das, Gangadhar Meher and many others. Sita Bibaha, the first ever Odia film was also released the very same year. Odia cinema kept growing and flourishing through many coming years. Such was a time in the history of Odia cinema when Hakim Babu (1985) was released in original Odia alongside Bengali and Bangladeshi languages owing to the popularity and demand of Odia cinema. That was a time when there was no such concept of ‘pan-Indian cinema’; not even for the many South Indian films that pocket more money than most Hindi language films in present times. Such was the fame of Odia cinema back in those times.
‘Kalpana Ra Collage’:
The name and glory of Odia cinema was kept intact till 1990 at best. “What happened after that?”: nobody has an answer to this question. Filmmakers blame the audience for not showing any interest; the audience blames the filmmakers for not creating worthy content; critics try to stay low-key and in order to sound impartial, blame the government for its lack of support and policies backing the film industry.
This question has never seen the face of an answer. And amidst all these debates and mud-fight, the cinema industry in Odisha kept descending to newer lows every passing day. But does this blame-game ever do any good to a cause? What helps us reach the goal is an effort to restart, rebuild and mend the whole structure without paying any heed to the current situation and existing problems.
With that mature idea in mind, United Misfits and Odians, in collaboration with Aao NXT, an Odia OTT platform, thought of not contributing to the ever-running debate by asking that same question over again; instead, they tried to put forth a few short Odia films made by some passionate Odia filmmakers and see for themselves if the audience is willing to take in good Odia content if it is ever produced. In a very short period of time, they planned the first ever “Odia film mela” and executed it in the best way possible. ‘Kalpana Ra Collage’ was the result of the persistence of these few Odias and their love for their land, their mother tongue, and their devotion to the state’s art.
The short film screening took place at IDCOL Auditorium in Bhubaneswar on 11 June, 2022. INR 99/- had been set to be the price of each entry ticket to the screening. No matter how passionate and persistent one may become, the fear of failure always engulfs when it is their first attempt at something. But to their surprise and (almost) disbelief, all tickets to the 250 seats at the venue were sold out in a matter of four days.
The films:
The screening had six short films (8-20 minutes duration each) of very different themes, stories, flavours and genres.
While the event started with Raasta, the story of a 25-year-old man who sets out on a quest to find the meaning of his life and many other existential questions, the second film of the evening, Chhaya Bruttanta, made a drastic turn telling the very dark story of a misogynistic man adamant on believing that all his past wives were not fertile enough to give birth to a child of his own and kills them with that agony.
A psychological thriller as the third film of the evening, Shadow, is the story of a police inspector and the many cobwebs inside his deep psyche, while Avisaara, the fourth short, a lyrical, is a present-day retelling of the immortal love story of Radha and Lord Krishna.
Pade Adhe, another romance screened at the event, very honestly showed a quite natural and realistic portrayal of love and the possible confusions surrounding it. As the sixth and last film of the event, Byaase Sunucha showed an artist painting the walls of the city have a heartfelt conversation and saying out loud his complaints to none other than the Byasakabi Phakir Mohan Senapati.
All of the six films definitely leave an impact on the audience and make them believe that it is not too late yet to re-establish the past glory of Odia cinema once again. All of the films were followed by some meaningful discussion after each screening with questions from the audience along with brilliant musical performances by very young and rising Odia artists.
More answers, very few questions, and a solid promise to be back with more:
Dipanwit Dashmohapatra (who played three different roles in three of the six films), as the artist in Byaase Sunucha, rightfully sums up the agony of every proud Odia. He doesn’t try to pose questions, rather he just makes blunt statements. And in the guise of telling all that to the Byasakabi, he confronts and bashes all Odias. He shows the audience their own reality which may serve as a catalyst to a better tomorrow for Odia language, literature, art and culture.
The organizers of the event, all from very diverse professional backgrounds joined by their common love for their land, language and the art form, were very exhilarated and their enthusiasm must have reached new heights by seeing the turn in for the screening. At the end of the screenings, Sumit Panda, Siddharth Goutam, Ashutosh Panda and others of the organizing team also acknowledged the crowd for its positive and immediate response. Their passion and dedication to the cause are themselves the proof that they will definitely be back with many more such screenings and events showcasing many such good and quality content very soon in order to enable Odia cinema to be reborn and reach newer and unimaginable heights.
At last, coming back to the question posed in the title of this write-up, “Will this be the beginning of the dawn for Odia cinema’s renaissance?”, I would say, it definitely will, given such collective effort from both the audience and passionate makers like this very lot.
[Image courtesy: Team KRC ’22]
