Remembering Manmohan Mohapatra: The Father Of New Wave Odia Films

Remembering Manmohan Mohapatra: The Father Of New Wave Odia Films

When it comes to the new wave cinema, Ollywood can never forget their pioneer in the state, late Manmohan Mohapatra.

Born in 1951, Mohapatra studied filmmaking at FTII, Pune and made his first short film ‘Anti-Memoirs’ in 1975. His first film as a director, ‘Sita Rati’, in 1976 won the National Film Award for the ‘Best Feature Film’ in Odia.

Mohapatra had won eight consecutive National Awards for his films ‘Nisiddha Swapna’, ‘Majhi Pahacha’, ‘Klanta Aparanha’, ‘Niraba Jhada’, ‘Sita Rati’ and ‘Bhinna Samaya’. His film, ‘Niraba Jhada’, also won a National Award.

Mohapatra had also directed a few Hindi films, including ‘Bits and Pieces’ starring Nandita Das, Rahul Bose, and Dia Mirza. He recently received the Best Director Award for Odia film ‘Bhija Matira Swarga’. The veteran filmmaker had also directed documentaries like ‘Voices of Silence’ and ‘Konark: The Sun Temple’.

Here is what some of his veteran colleagues in Ollywood has to say about this legend:

“Very rarely I have seen him laughing” —Jaya Swami

I have acted in most of his films. I feel like 50% of the films in my career were done with him, including ‘Kuhudi’, ‘Majhi Pahacha’ and ‘Niraba Jhada’. When I discontinued my career at a point of time, I had heard him saying in an interview that “How can I make films without Jaya?” That was like the biggest award for me. I feel very lucky to get the opportunity to work with such a talented person. He always tried to make the actors not only understand the character but also live it on screen. So he used to tell me to follow the body language, talking style and everything that made that character unique. He was always serious about his work, very rarely I have seen him laughing at work. I admit that death is the real truth of life, but this happened early with this legend.

“He was of a limited edition” — Mihir Das

I believe it was only because of him that we got the state award this year for the film ‘Bhija Matira Swarga’. One thing I liked the most about him was that no one would ever return empty-handed from him. He has helped many people from our fraternity to stand and make a place in the big crowd. That may have been directly or indirectly, but he was always there to help. He had knowledge about everything, but he never showed off. As to what I learnt from him, I want to keep it secret. He was always a silent person while shooting, but everything went well and the shoot always got completed on time. It was something that made him different from the other directors. He understood the problems of artists very well; if you were feeling ill, then he would never force you to work. So yes, he was of a limited edition.

“He was the property of our state and our Odia film fraternity” — Akshay Parija

It is really an honour for me that he made his last film with me. I wish I could have worked with him in some more projects. At the same time, I feel lucky about the fact that at least I made one film with him before he passed away. And of course, it is like a big gift from him to us, which got state award. On a personal note, I had been meeting him more often for the last four years. I was very surprised that how a person could be so up to date about new trends and technologies of film making when he himself had not done any film for the past 12 years. His films’ approach was always from the point of view of a common man. So people can relate his creations with their own lives. As a person, he was a very humble man. And he always welcomed suggestions from anybody. If I suggested something, then he would think about it deeply. He would then either accept it or come to me with proper justification of why it was not acceptable. But he never ignored any suggestion. I remember that once I told him that you are not the property of your family, but you are the property of our state and our Odia film fraternity as well.