PURI: Veteran Odia film producer, cinematographer and architect of the first Odia talking movie ‘Sita Bibaha’, Sukumar Ganguly died after a brief illness at his residence on Sunday. He is survived by wife Pramila, five sons and as many daughters.
In a career spanning over four decades, Sukumar (90) donned the role of a producer, director, cameraman, editor and projectionist. He became a cinema projectionist at a very young age of 12 for the first Odia talkie ‘Sita Bibaha’ which was directed by Mohan Sundar Deb Goswami.
He single-handedly produced ‘Shree Shree Patita Paban’ in 1960 and was co-producer of ‘Jay Jagannath’. He was also the first person from Odisha to become a member of the Royal Photographic Society of London.
A decorated soldier in British India Army, Sukumar left the job after World War-II and began his experiments with camera. Sukumar was presented with the Banichitra Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010 for outstanding contribution to Odia cinema.
Puri Gajapati Dibyasingha Deb, ADM Uddhav Chandra Majhi and members of the film fraternity and media condoled the death.