BHUBANESWAR: IN a career spanning over six decades, Sarada Prasanna Nayak created for himself a cinematic creative canvas which will remain unmatched. Film director, actor, TV producer, singer, lyricist and screenplay writer, he switched many roles and evolved in each with consummate ease.Needless to say, the acclaimed film-maker had some of the finest Odia movies to his credit.
On Wednesday, he passed away at the age of 94.Born and brought up in Cuttack, Nayak had a keen interest in acting and music since childhood. Prior to his stint with films, he dabbled in theatre from his post-graduation days in Utkal University. Brother of late actress Parbati Ghose and musician Swarup Nayak, he had formed an amateur theatre group in Cuttack named Kalpana Kala Mandira along with his siblings in the late 50s. Nayak went on to act and write plays ‘Sunamati’, ‘Parishod’, ‘Sankhali’ and “Patni’.
In 1956, he directed his first film ‘Jaydev’, which portrayed the life and times of the saint poet. Unfortunately, the film could not be made properly and turned out to be a flop. When Nayak thought his career as a filmmaker ended, ‘Laxmi’ happened through his brother-in-law Gour Ghose who produced the film. It was released in 1962 and became an instant hit. ‘Laxmi’ ran for 100 days in theatres and fetched the prestigious President’s Award for Nayak in 1963. He went on to write the dialogues and lyrics for ‘Kaa’ in 1966 and co-directed ‘Stree’ in 1968 along with Gour. Apparently, all the three films were based on women-oriented subjects and besides directing them, Nayak acted in ‘Laxmi’ and ‘Stree’. Both ‘Kaa’ and ‘Stree’ also won the President’s Silver Medal for Best Odia Film in 1966 and 1968 respectively.“He drew inspiration from Charlie Chaplin’s style of silent cinema that let him learn about working with visuals. Those days, film-making was nothing less than an art for him”, recalls Swarup.
After the three back to back hits and the President’s Awards, he was selected by Government of India to undergo TV training from Centre for Educational Development Overseas, London, in 1973. A year later, Nayak returned to India to join Doordarshan at a time when satellite television was making a debut. Ever since then, he wrote, directed and produced several TV plays, feature films and tele-serials for AIR, Doordarshan and ETV.
In 1974, the veteran filmmaker also wrote the story, lyrics and dialogues of ‘Sansara’ which was the first Odia film to be made tax free by Odisha Government. “There is an interesting story behind this film, which was produced by the Health and Family Welfare department. The department wanted to make a short film on family planning and had invited filmmakers to submit scripts. Gour Ghose had taken a story written by Sarada Babu on family planning and submitted it to the department. The story was so good and relevant that it was instantly approved and instead of a short film, the department decided to make a full length feature film titled ‘Sansara’. The film was a hit then”, said Surya Deo, eminent Odia film historian.
Nayak also acted in an Odia film titled ‘Hira Nila’ which was written and directed by Prashant Nanda and released in 1984. He also penned lyrics for over 200 films and AIR shows including ‘Arata Sure Bare’ from film ‘Laxmi’, which was Sikandar Alam’s debut as a playback singer in Odia film industry.
In recognition to his contribution to the Odia film industry, the State Government had accorded the coveted Jaydev Puraskar - the highest honour in Ollywood - for the year 2013, on him. For a few years Nayak assisted Doordarshan with some of its shows and also taught journalism students at Indira Gandhi Open University.
The 94-year-old was diagnosed Covid-19 positive three days back and admitted to SUM Hospital where he breathed his last. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and members of the film fraternity condoled his death. “Nayak left an indelible mark on Odia cinema,” the CM said in his condolence tweet.