The 46th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) will pay homage to illustrious film personalities that the Indian cinema lost during the last 12 months in a special homage section.
This year IFFI will pay tribute to noted Odia film director Nirad Mahapatra who passed away in a Mumbai hospital at the age of 67 on February 18 last. Mahapatra was born on November 12, 1947 at Bhadrak.
As a tribute to the departed soul, his masterpiece Maya Miriga will be screened at IFFI- 2015.
His debut feature film, Maya Miriga (1984), was adjudged the second Best National Film in 1984. In the same year, the film was inducted in Indian Panorama section. The film also won the Odisha State film award in 1983, which includes Best producer, Best director and Best art direction. Jointly Bibhuti Pattnaik and Nirad Mahapatra were adjudged as best storywriters and got the special jury award.
Mahapatra joined Pune’s Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) to study direction in 1968 after discontinuing his post graduate studies in political science. Five years later, he joined FTII as a lecturer. In 1984, Mahapatra made Maya Miriga depicting erosion in family base in a changing society. The film also earned him international acclaim when it was adjudged the best third-world cinema at International Film Festival Mannheim-Heidelberg in Germany (then West Germany). It also won Critic Week Section award in Cannes Film Festival in France and special jury commendation in Hawaii Film Festival in USA among others. Mahapatra never made any other feature film, but shot several award-winning documentaries.
