BHUBANESHWAR: Odia filmmaker-producer Amiya Patnaik passed away after a prolonged illness at New Delhi on Friday. He was 63 and was undergoing treatment at a private hospital there for pancreatic cancer. He is survived by his wife Seema Patnaik and son Anupam.
Patnaik, known for making socially epic films including 1985 National award-winning 'Hakim Babu', was an engineer before he ventured into producing and making Odia films. 'Hakim Babu portrayed industrialisation and displacement in a village of Odisha.
Some of his other notable films are 'Mamata Mage Mula', 'Pua Mora Kala Thakura' and 'Chaka Aakhi Sabu Dekhuchiare'. He was also the founding member of Kanak Manjari Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences and director of Eastern Media Limited. Patnaik's last film as director was 'Tulasi Apa', the first Odia biopic on social activist Tulasi Munda. 'Tulasi Apa', which released in 2015, won several accolades internationally and nationally.
Patnaik also ventured into the small screen with one of the longest-running Odia shows 'Gotie Mana ra Kotie Swapna'.
Also a dramatist, Patnaik had formed TechnoArts, a theater group, during his stint as a student in NIT, Rourkela. He made dramas like 'Pruthak Pruthibi' and 'Byabhichara', 'Narka re Chahala' to name a few. In 1978, he was adjudged the best director in Lok Kala Mahotsav and shot to fame in 1981 with 'Byabhichara'. He is credited to have started slow-motion techniques on the stage.
His mortal remains will be consigned to flames at Swargadwar in Puri on Saturday. Members of the Odia film and theatre fraternity mourned his death.