lipika Singh Darai, Nihar Ranjan Samal, Alaka Sahani, Shrabani Das, Abhilash Nanda and Ranjan Rath who have made Odisha proud by winning laurels in the recently concluded 61st Annual National Film Award (NFA) ceremony are yet to be applauded by either the Odia film fraternity or the State Government holding the responsibility of development of cinema in the State.
Some self-proclaimed patriarchs of Odia cinema too have not spoken a word about the stupendous achievement by these six jewels of Odisha who have been awarded in different categories for individual excellence.
lipika, the youngest Odia to win two back-to-back national awards in successive years, has bagged National Award for voice in her film, Kanki o Sapa.
Nihar, who has created a niche for himself as a sound designer after showcasing his brilliance in block-busters like Three Idiots, Vicky Donor, Ferrari ki Sawari, Madras Café is the proud winner of this year’s Best location Sound Recordist award.
The national film jury bestowed Golden lotus honour for Best Film Critique on Odia journalist Alka Sahani for her series of articles on non-mainstream themes shorn of glamour, glitz and gossip.
Another Odia girl who won the Best Costume Designer award is Srabani Das who impressed the jury with her amazing costume designing in the Bengali film Jaatiswar. Abhilas Nanda and Ranjan Rath, two young and ambitious Odia technicians, engraved their names in the history book by cornering the Best Special Effects award for their spectacular work in the film Jal.
This breathtaking feat of Odias in NFA would have been still more delightful had Sabyasachi Mohapatra’s Sala Budha got any recognition. A group of knowledgeable and discerning followers of Odisha’s film industry finds it difficult to digest the denial of an award to Sala Budha which had already been selected for prestigious Indian Panorama section of International Film Festival of India (IFFI)-2013.
Those who find fault with the NFA for Sala Budha smell a rat, especially due to the presence of an Odia filmmaker in the jury. Curiously enough this member, who is a one-film wonder, happens to be in the jury on occasions when potential Odia entries fail to win awards.
It is difficult to fathom, why and how Directorate of Film Festival chooses him as a juror so many times. Back home, he is known more for creating hurdles for many established and new filmmakers either during selection process of scripts for financial assistance from NFDC or writing petitions to stall projects awarded to some.
Denial of any award to Sala Budha, which could emerge successful from steeper competition in Indian Panorama selection, reinforces the apprehension of sabotage. While the collective decision making process of the jury keeps it beyond reproach, an award for a deserving entry like Sala Budha would have added extra flavour to this unprecedented success of a handful of Odias, winning many national honours in the same year.