BHUBANESWAR: Two filmmakers of Odisha and a New Delhi-based director, who made a film on dying folk art culture of the State, have won the 64th National Film Awards. The awards were announced on Friday by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
Filmmaker Nilamadhab Panda’s ‘Kadvi Hawa’ has received a ‘Special Mention’ from the 64th National Film Awards jury for highlighting farmers’ struggle against the changing environmental conditions. Panda’s film brings stories from drought-prone Bundelkhand region and vanishing villages from coastal Odisha. The director said ‘Kadvi Hawa’ narrates the tale of a blind man, essayed by actor Sanjay Mishra and a bank loan recovery agent, played by Ranvir Shorey.
Odia girl Lipika Singh Darai has won the National Film Award (non-feature film) for her film The Waterfall. The 20-minute-long English film has been adjudged as the Best Educational Film. Shot in and around Khandadhar waterfall, Lipika’s film traces the evolution of a young city boy to appreciate the value of environment as well as think critically about climate change and development.
Apart from Panda and Lipika, two other filmmakers - Shibu Prusty and Sankhajeet De - have won the Best Arts/Culture Film awards for their Odia documentary feature films that deal with Jagannath Culture and Shadow Puppetry of Odisha respectively. Prusty’s The Lord of the Universe, a 55-minute docu-feature film, speaks about aspects of Jagannath Culture and De’s In the Shadow of Time ( or ‘Sanayara Chhaire’) is a 190-minute-long documentary that explores the journey of Ravana Chhaya, the shadow puppet form practiced in Odisha. While De is a New Delhi-based researcher and documentary filmmaker, Prusty is now based in Mumbai and an alumnus of Biju Patnaik Film and Television Institute of Odisha. Sources said a total of eight feature films were submitted this year for the Best Odia Film category but none could even qualify.
Author Devdas Chotray, who was a jury member, said even as eight Odia films were in the race for the prestigious award, none could make it to the second round of screening. “This should be a wake-up call for filmmakers who have to now come up with better scripts and good filmmaking,” he said and added that if Panda had made ‘Kadvi Hawa’ in Odia, it could have won the best regional film award.
Lipika, Prusty and De will be awarded Rajat Kamal (Silver Lotus Award) and `50,000 each at the main event which will be held in New Delhi. This is the fourth National Award for Lipika. The National Film Awards would be presented by the President on May 3, 2017.