Eminent filmmaker from Odisha Nirad Mahapatra passed away at a Mumbai hospital on Thursday morning. He was 67. Mahapatra had developed complications since undergoing a surgery for suspected cancer at the Fortis Hiranandani Hospital in Navi Mumbai on January 14. Family sources suspect negligence on the part of the hospital led to his death.
Mahapatra had undergone a second surgery on February 8 to arrest the infection caused during the first. He had shown some signs of improvement since then but began sinking on Wednesday night with his blood pressure falling drastically. Mahapatra’s sons Siddharth and Sandeep and his wife were at the bedside when he breathed his last. He was later cremated in Mumbai after his daughter Mita arrived from Hyderabad.
Mahapatra, an alumni of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) Pune, had shot into international fame with his very first film Maya Miriga in 1984 which won a Rajat Kamal at the National Film Awards before going on to win a special jury award at the Cannes Film Festival. Though he never made another feature film, he made several exceptional documentaries and won many awards. He was in the Board of Directors of the FTII and was a mentor to aspiring filmmakers.
A condolence meeting was held for Mahapatra at the KIIT School of Film and Media Sciences attended by school CEO Himashu Khatua, KIIT Media School Director Baikunthnath Panigrahi and School of Fashion Technology Director Dr SP Mishra, faculty and students. Mahapatra was closely associated with the KIIT School of Film and Media Sciences since its inception.