Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Wednesday pledged full support for preserving film heritage and announced that Odisha will soon sign a pact with the Film Heritage Foundation (FHF) to restore and safeguard Odia films.
“This will be a much-needed move to promote Odia Asmita,” Majhi said while inaugurating the 10th edition of the Film Preservation and Restoration Workshop India (FPRWI 2025), organised by FHF in association with the International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF).
Majhi urged the film fraternity to share challenges and suggestions so that the state government can take concrete steps.
Bhubaneswar is hosting the Workshop from November 12 to 19 at Kalabhoomi Odisha Crafts Museum. Participants from across India and abroad are taking part in the eight-day workshop.
Legendary actors Amitabh Bachchan, who joined the inauguration ceremony virtually from Mumbai, and guest of honour Waheeda Rehman appealed for the preservation of old films for future generations.
While lauding Odisha’s century-old film legacy, Big B also observed that the absence of a preservation policy has left priceless works of Nirad Mohapatra, Manmohan Mahapatra, Ghanshyam Mahapatra, Prafulla Sengupta, Nitai Palit, Parvati Ghosh, Prashanta Nanda, Jharana Das and others at risk of being lost.
“If you love films and care about the future of our film heritage, join us in our mission to save our films for future generations,” Bachchan said.
Big B praised Odisha’s collaboration with FIAF, saying that the initiative in its earlier editions trained over 450 archivists from India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh and other countries.
Waheeda welcomed the focus on Odisha this year, and stressed that the state’s rich cinematic heritage needs to be preserved as a priority.
FHF director Shivendra Singh Dungarpur said international faculty from Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York and British Film Institute are participating in the workshop to impart training in every aspect of film preservation.
Posters of Mohapatra’s Odia classic ‘Maya Miriga’, which were recently restored by FHF, were released on the occasion.