Why ‘Hello Arsi’ Got National Award? Sekhar Kapur Has The Answer

Bhubaneswar: While announcing Special Mention Category of 65th National Awards recently, chairman of the central panel, Sekhar Kapur, could not contain his excitement about Odia movie ‘Hello Arsi’, which grabbed three honours including Best Odia Movie and Best Dialogue.

“You won’t believe among the special mention is an Odia film. It is called ‘Hello Arsi. One of the best performances by a girl, I have seen for a long time,” he said.

He was not only bowled over by Ollywood actress Prakruti Mishra’s brilliant performance, the storyline of the movie equally impressed him.

Prakruti and Partha Sarathi Ray have played the lead pair in the film jointly produced by Ajay Routray and Sambit Mohanty, who also directed it.

Speaking highly of the movie, he said, “If I try to make this (film), I will fail. I have never seen a film like this, whether in Cannes, Berlin or anywhere in India.”

Kapur said no film in the world has ever been made in this style. “What sets it apart is its storytelling technique. There were other great movies too. After a lot of argument, we decided to give it to ‘Hello Arsi’, specially for the performance of the female lead,” he said.

Heaping praises on Prakruti, he further said,”In the whole movie, she is seen talking to different characters, but actually she is speaking to the mirror (Arsi), herself. It is like she is examining the whole life, while different characters are used.”

Kapur was also all praise for regional cinema on the whole. “I was amazed by the new stories in regional cinema. I was constantly amazed at the level of performances. I was amazed at the films that came from Lakshadweep, Odisha and Assam. And when I sat down and compared them with Hindi cinema, I kind of felt ashamed of where I came from, which is from what we call Bollywood,” he added.

Watch the video (courtesy: India TV) here: