BHUBANESWAR: WITH the passing away of eminent filmmaker and cinematographer Raj Gopal Mishra on Monday, the Odia film industry has lost yet another jewel. Mishra was 71.On Monday, Mishra suffered a heart attack after returning from a bank. He was rushed to a private hospital but was declared dead.
Popularly known as Raju Mishra, he introduced the element of commercial cinematography in Odia cinema.Both his parents Sumati Devi and Bimal Kishore Mishra were musicians, yet they dissuaded the young Mishra from taking up music as a career as it offered little remuneration. After completing his graduation, he worked in a company for a few years before joining the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) at Pune to study cinematography.
His graduating film from FTII ‘Sudama Into The Thirsty Night’ fetched him the Best Student Film award at the Indian Panorama and he went on to assist Sharad Navle in the 1979 Marathi film ‘Sarvasakshi’ which was directed by Ramdas Phutane and had Smita Patil as the lead actress.
A year later, he returned to Odisha and did cinematography for ‘Muhurta’ but the film did not see a commercial release. Mishra debuted as an independent cinematographer, filmmaker and music director with ‘Ulka’ which was jointly directed by him and Surya Mishra and released in 1981. The film, produced by Rajlaxmi Pictures, also fetched him the State Award for Best Cinematography.
Two years later, he collaborated with Nirad Mahapatra as an operative cameraman in the internationally acclaimed ‘Maya Miriga’. As an independent cinematographer, Mishra worked in several popular films including Jaga Hatare Pagha (1985), Mamata Mage Mula (1985), Jor Jaar Mulak Taar (1986) and Aei Ama Sansar (1987). Although Mishra was deeply influenced by the parallel cinema movement, he turned to commercial films for survival in the industry. Yet, he never gave up on making good cinema.
As a director, he went on to make four films which had an element of Jagannath Culture - Pua Mora Kala Thakura (1988), Chaka Aakhi Sabu Dekhuchi (1989), Aasuchi Mo Kalia Suna (1989) and Pathara Khasuchi Bada Deula (1992).
“He was perhaps the first filmmaker who used commercial cinema to portray Jagannath culture in daily lives of people. People connected with the stories and the films did well commercially”, said film historian Surya Deo. Not only did he dabble in cinematography and filmmaking but also composed music, wrote screenplays and dialogues for many films.
Apart from Odia films, he did cinematography in around 10 Assamese films, six of which received the National and State awards besides the Indian Panorama awards. For his three-decades-long contribution to Odia film industry, Mishra was conferred the prestigious Jaydev Samman and several other awards.