Eminent Odia Filmmaker Manmohan Mohapatra No More

Bhubaneswar: Eminent Odia filmmaker, producer and director Manmohan Mohapatra passed away at a private hospital on Monday. He was 69. The end came at about 5.15 pm.

He was undergoing treatment for a kidney ailment and was undergoing dialysis, informed his younger son, Manatosh Mohapatra.

Born in 1951, Mohapatra studied film making at the FTII, Pune and made a first short film, Anti-Memoirs (Anti-Memories) in 1975. His first Odia film Sita Rati as a director in 1976, won him the National Film Award for the Best Feature Film in Odia and was screened at the International Film Festival in 1982, the first Odia film to be screened abroad.

Besides, he had won eight consecutive national film awards for his films Nisiddha Swapna, Majhi Pahacha, Klanta Aparanha, Niraba Jhada, Sita Rati, Bhinna Samaya. The Odia movie ‘Niraba Jhada’ directed by him had won a national award.

Mohapatra had recently received the Best Director award for the Odia film ‘Bhija Matira Swarga’.

Apart from Sita Rati, the veteran filmmaker had also directed three documentaries and 10 feature films.

The three documentaries directed by him are Anti-Memoirs, Voices of Silence and
Konrak: The Sun Temple.

The feature films directed him are Noiraba Jhada, Klanta Aparahna, Trisandhya, Majhi Pahacha, Nisiddha Swapna, Kichhi Smruti Kichhi Anubhuti, Andha Diganta, Bhinna Samaya, Agni Veena and Muhurta.

Besides, Mohapatra has also directed a few Hindi films like Forbidden Love and “Bits and Pieces” starring Nandita Das, Rahul Bose, and Dia Mirza.

Several Ollywood actors and directors have deeply condoled the sad demise of Mohapatra.