Bhubaneswar: Ollywood has relied heavily on remakes of films from South India for several years to draw rural audiences to the theatres. From cinematography, choreography, storyline, action sequences to the gaudy costumes of South Indian movies, Odia filmmakers had borrowed everything south to have commercial success, most of the times depriving Ollywood of its originality. According to critics, Ollywood, which could have played a major role in promoting Odisha’s culture and heritage, had failed its audiences for several years until the recent re-emergence of Odisha-specific content on OTTs as well as on the big screen. Despite such neglect, Odisha’s culture and language has travelled far and beyond the land of Jagannath. Interestingly, several south Indian films have had references to Odisha’s culture, language and picturesque landscape. Here’s a list to follow:
1) Orissa (2013): This Malayalam romantic film, starring Unni Mukundan and Sanika Nambiar as leads, has been woven around the story of an Odia girl Suneyi (played by Sanika). This heart-wrenching story is set against the rugged hinterlands of Odisha. The film is based on a Malayali constable Christudas loving the Odia girl. The film has two Odia songs, composed by Ratheesh Vega. Several of its scenes have been shot in Cuttack. It has been directed by M. Padmakumar.
2) Arjun Son of Vyjayanthi: This is a 2025 Telugu-language action thriller film directed by Pradeep Chilukuri, starring Nandamuri Kalyan Ram—brother of MTR— and Vijayashanti, alongside Saiee Manjrekar, Sohail Khan, among others. It is a spiritual sequel of 1990 film Karthavyam with Vijayshanti reprised the same role in this movie as Kalyan Ram’s mother. Neither the songs nor the film’s setting is influenced by Odisha’s culture or geography. The movie features a fight scene, set against the backdrop of a small shop that has a banner reading in Odia language.
3) 10 Endrathukulla: It is a 2015 Tamil road action film written and directed by Vijay Milton, starring Chiyaan Vikram and Samantha Ruth Prabhu. It features a scene where Chiyaan Vikram is standing before Lord Jagannath’s image and has several Odia phrases.
4) Comrade Kalyan: This recently-released Telugu movie has taken the internet by storm among Odia audiences for its portrayal of Odia scenes. The Odia connection in the Telugu movie Comrade Kalyan revolves around the female lead character Sitara, played by Mahima Nambiar, who is portrayed as an Odia girl. The story is set in 1992 in a Naxal-dominated village around the Andhra-Odisha border (including the undivided Koraput region). Mahima Nambiar plays Sitara, an innocent Odia girl whose interactions and language barrier with Kalyan (Sree Vishnu) form a major part of the romance and comedy. One of the main musical highlights is the romantic track “Oriya Pilla”, which has several Odia phrases. The film incorporates Odia dialogues, local culture, and background tracks (such as portions featuring Biswas from Puri). The introductory scene showing the character of Biswas (from Puri) in the film has been played by actor Marathi actor Upendra Limaye. In the background the song, ‘damana marti gala ho..caw caw..”
View this post on Instagram
