Odia Cinema to Portray More Substantial Women Characters

Bhubaneswar: Since the first Odia cinema ‘Sita Bibaha’ released in 1934, Ollywood has gone through a roller coaster. However, the legacy is on. During the 60s and 70s more films with female-centric stories hit the theatres. They went on to be all-time classics.

 The late 80s and early 90s saw the number of such movies dwindle to a few. This was discussed on the concluding day of Kalinga Literary Festival held at Mayfair in Bhubaneswar on Sunday.

Sharing her views on the topic ‘Ollywood changes but stock stereotype depicting Women remains same,’ evergreen actress Anu Choudhury said, “Films are being made based on what audience wants to watch.

My film ‘Sasu Ghara Chalijibi’ was totally heroine-centric. In ‘Sweet Heart’ released in 2016, I played the role of a journalist who was interacting with a terrorist. Though I was not the heroine, I shared more screen space than the heroine and people loved the character I played.”

On her comeback, Jyoti Mishra said, “I am waiting for the right opportunity to come back on screen. Even if it is a small role, I want a substantial character to portray.” Jyoti has acted in more than 25 films and 50 tele-serials.

“Most of our audience lives in rural areas. So the films are being made keeping them in mind. Urban people just do not go to theatres to watch Odia movies,” said Pinky Pradhan who was last seen doing an item number in ‘Suna Pila Tike Screw Dhila.’

Popular singer Susmita Das, who was also one of the jury members of National Film Award in 2016, said, “The mindset of people needs to be changed and it is high time that film makers should come forward and portray substantial women characters on screen.” The session was moderated by film journalist Prachitara.