Bhubaneswar: Odia filmmaker Anupam Patnaik’s first feature movie ‘Pratikshya’ will be released on December 2.
Sharing the film’s poster on his official Twitter handle, Anupam wrote: “Waiting for good to happen? You might just lose the important ones! Presenting the first look of ‘Pratikshya’. Made with love, made with passion, made for theaters only. Let’s bring back those golden days!”
The son of eminent Odia producer and director Late Amiya Patnaik, Anupam’s film has been inspired by a short story by Gaurahari Das and some true incidents which have been shot at real locations in Bhubaneswar. No studio or set was hired for the filming of the movie — under Amiya Patnaik Productions banner — which stars Dipanwit Dashmohapatra, Choudhury Jayprakash Das, Barsha Patnaik, Sreela Tripathy, Roopambika Nayak, Susil Mishra, Abakash Mishra and Sidhant Mohapatra.
The post-production of music and sound was, however, done in Chennai and Mumbai.
“This film is about an unemployed graduate who faces the dilemma of securing a government job and saving his father after his family meets a medical crisis. It is a very relatable film that has the essence of Bhubaneswar. Every youth will personally feel the storyline,” Anupam told Odisha Bytes.
“A lot of research, iterations, arguments, and tragedy went into making this. But nothing made it come alive like life itself. It took 17 drafts, 3 years, and the patience of a bunch of newcomers who wanted to come together and create something special! The waiting has been long, but worth it,” he added.
The shooting started in 2019 and was completed just before the COVID-19 lockdown began.
“The scripting, which is done by Roshan Bisoi, itself took around one-and-a-half years. One of the main leads Dipanwit Dashmohapatra related to the script and lived the character of Sanjay Dash in the movie. He lost around 15 kgs to play his role,” Anupam revealed.
On actor Siddhanta Mahapatra’s character, Anupam didn’t want to give away much.
“Without giving any spoiler I would like to mention that he has a special role in the movie and would love the viewers to watch it in theatres.”
Before venturing into his maiden feature film, Anupam produced and directed several series including Gangs of Puri, Raati Sari Sari Jauchi, Panchatantra, Tulasi Apa, which won the Odisha State Film Award for Best Director- Amiya Patnaik, Best Actress – Barsha Nayak, Best Cinematography- Arjun Jena, Best Music – Pankaj Jal, Best Child Artist – Madhusmita Maharana, and Best Dialogues – Chinmay Das Pattnaik.
On releasing his work on OTT, apart from theatres, he said that national platforms like Amazon Prime and Netflix don’t have a category for Odia movies which is why ‘Tulasi Apa‘ was removed from Prime after 6-7 months of its release.
“That was really disheartening,” Anupam confessed.
“We have to maintain my father Amiya Patnaik’s banner, which is a big responsibility, with the way we work as well as with the quality of our cinemas. Recently, movies have lost their charm compared to what it used to be in the 90s — Hakim Babu in 1984, Pua Mora Kala Thakura, Chaka Akhi Sabu Dekhuchi,” he said.
Anupam added that the number of theatres, proper screenplay, good stories, and quality content should be provided for movies. “There has to be a quality check of Odia movies, but unfortunately we are not equipped with the necessary support,” he said.
The main vision of Amiya Patnaik productions is to develop the industry and revive the glory of Odia cinema. “At a time when adequate number of cinema halls are not being provided for Odia cinema, I believe that if Ollywood focuses more on good content-oriented stories, viewers will be interested to watch the movies in theatres just like Hindi or any other regional cinemas,” he said.
Anupam’s next projects, for 2023, are — Dahaan, season 2 of Gangs of Puri and Gangs of Berhampur.
