BHUBANESWAR: Odia film 'Aadim Vichar' (The Ancient Justice), directed by award-winning filmmaker Sabyasachi Mohapatra, has been selected for the 62nd National Award under 'Best Odia Feature Film' category. The awards were announced by the Directorate of Film Festivals on Tuesday.
After a gap of seven years, an Odia feature film would get the National Award in the category. The last time an Odia film had got the award was in 2006 for 'Puja Paine Phulatie', directed by Gadadhar Puty. In the absence of socially-relevant original scripts in Ollywood, the Directorate of Film Festivals had not selected any Odia films from 2007 to 2013. Last year too, the mainstream Odia film industry failed to evolve in terms of content as the movies were basically remakes of Telugu and Tamil films, except for some like 'Aadim Vichar'.
This year, five Odia films were nominated for the 62nd National Film Awards. Besides 'Aadim Bichar', the films in the race were 'Krantidhara', 'Suka Asuchi', 'Capital I' and 'Bhaunri'.
'Aadim Vichar' is based on a 100-year-old story penned by Mohapatra's father Kapileswar Prasad. It is about a righteous Kondh tribal elderly man who turns rebellious when he is implicated and produced before court.
A release by the Directorate of Film Festivals stated that 'Aadim Vichar' was selected for the award for its vibrant portrayal of a tribal community whose enabling humanism shows a way out of pettiness and prejudice. "I am very happy that 'Aadim Vichar', which was made with an aim of creating awareness among people about the simple lifestyle of tribal communities, has been selected for the National Award," Mohapatra said. The filmmaker did extensive research on tribal communities prior to making the film and shot 'Aadim Vichar' in Phulbani and Kandhamal. The entire crew had stayed with Kondh tribals to understand their culture and lifestyle. "The tribal cultures are extremely rich with moral values. These innocent tribals are often exploited by people living in urban pockets," Mohapatra said.
Last year, 'Aadim Vichar' was selected for Indian Panorama category of International Film Festival of India (IFFI). Mohapatra will be awarded Rajat Kamal (Silver Lotus Award) and Rs 1,00,000 at the main event which will be held in New Delhi.
Besides 'Aadim Vichar', Bhubaneswar-based documentary filmmaker Indraneel Lahiri has been chosen for the National Award in the 'Best Cinematography' category (non-feature film) for his work 'Aamar Katha: Story of Binodini'. He would get a Rajat Kamal and cash prize of Rs 50,000.