Cinema of Odisha

Odia cinema
No. of screensApproximately 65 in Odisha state of India[1]
Main distributorsTarang Cine Productions
Odiaone Entertainment

Odia cinema, also known as Ollywood, is the segment of Indian cinema, dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Odia language widely spoken in the state of Odisha. Odia Cinema is based in Cuttack in Odisha, India.[2][3] The name Ollywood is a portmanteau of the words Odia and Hollywood.[4]

Industry

In 1974, the Government of Odisha declared film making and construction of cinema theatres as an industry in the state,[5] and in 1976 it established the Odisha Film Development Corporation in Cuttack.[6]

History

Early history (late 1930s–1970s)

Odisha has a history of filmmaking, starting from 1936. The first Odia film is Sita Bibaha[7], made by Mohan Sundar Deb Goswami in 1936. Drawn from the Indian epic Ramayana, the story is about the marriage of Sita and Ram. The film plot was made from a drama written by Kamapala Mishra[8]. Prepared with a budget of only Rs 30,000, the film has 14 song sequences. Despite it being the first Odia film with several drawbacks in every section of its making, the two-hour-long movie generated great enthusiasm among the people. It was released in Lakhmi Talkies, Puri. The 12-reeled film had in its cast Makhanlal Banerjee (Ram), who received only Rs 120 for his performance, Aditya Ballabha Mohanty (Lakhmana), who got only Rs 35 as conveyance allowance, and Prabati Debi (Sita), who was paid the highest amount of Rs 150. This was a landmark film of the Odia film Industry.[9][10]

The pace of Odia film production in the initial years was very slow. After Sita Bibaha, only two films were produced until 1951. A joint consortium of landlords and businessmen who collected funds after 1948 produced those two movies. The 1951 production Roles – 28 was the first Odia film with an English name. It was released 15 years after Sita Bibaha. It was the fourth Odia film produced by Ratikant Padhi.

The eleventh Odia film ever produced was Sri Lokanath, being released in 1960 and being directed by directed by Prafulla Sengupta. andwas the first Odia film to receive a National Award.received the National Award in 1960.[9]

The same year, Prasanta Nanda won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Odia for his debut film, Nua Bou. He was present in Odia films since 1959, but he became very active only after 1976. Nanda was an actor, director, screenplay writer, lyricist and playback singer. Nanda won National Awards three times, in 1960, 1966 and 1969 for his acting in Nua Bou, Matira Manisha and Adina Megha.

Golden age (1980s–2000s)

Mohammad Mohsin started the revolution in the Odia film industry by not only securing the essence of the Odia culture but also changing the way the film industry watched Odia movies. Phoola Chandana was written by Ananda Sankar Das. His movies heralded the golden era of the Odia film industry by bringing in freshness to Odia movies. His directorial debut was Phoola Chandana for which he won the Odisha State Film Award for Best Director.

Amiya Ranjan Patnaik, who started his career directing Mamata Mage Mula, changed the dimension of the Odia film industry by producing big budget movies with multiple star casts, which was a new trend at that time. He introduced many newcomers, musicians, technicians and singers from Mumbai and Chennai. He also produced the National Award-winning film Hakim Babu in 1985, directed by Pranab Das.[11] His film Pua Mora Kala Thakura, directed by Raju Mishra, was one of the biggest successes in the Odia film industry, followed by Chaka Aakhi Sabu Dekhuchi and Asuchi Mo Kalia Suna. He frequently collaborated with Raju Mishra, Akshaya Mohanty, Bijay Mohanty and Uttam Mohanty. Raja Rani, Paradeshi Babu and Parimahal were made in languages such as Odia and Bengali. He made a comeback as a director and made Tulasi Apa produced by his son Anupam Patnaik. This was an Odia biopic based on Padmashree Tulasi Munda, a social activist from the Indian state of Odisha accredited for her contribution to spreading literacy among the impoverished adivasi peoples of Odisha.

Himansu Sekhar Khatua, an Indian director, educationalist, and journalist who directed the national film award winning movies Sunya Swaroop and Kathantara in 1996 and 2005 respectively. Mr Khatua is the National Film Award recipient for Best Film direction in 2005 and National Award recipient for best debut film Sunya Swaroop in the 44th National Film Festival. Besides he has also directed many award winning movies such as Matira Bandhana, Krantidhara and the Sea and Seven Villages.

Uttam Mohanty, whose debut film Abhiman won accolades, was very successful in the 1980s. His wife Aparajita Mohanty is also an actress. Critics have named Bijay Mohanty and Mihir Das to be two of the best Odia actors so far 80'and 90's. In 1990s, Siddhanta Mahapatra, a new generation star, with his action and comedy movies gave national recognition to Odia industry. Actress Nandita Das, who acted in several Hindi movies like Fire, has an Odia origin. She acted in the Susanta Misra-directed Biswaprakash, which won a National Award in 2000. Barsha Priyadarshini is also another successful actress in the millennium era of Odia cinema.

Mrinal Sen directed an Odia film, Matira Manisha, which won a National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Odia to Prashanta Nanda.

Rise to national fame (2022 onwards)

In 2022, the film Pratikshya (2022) earned critical acclaim for its potrayal of "sorrow, happiness as well as failure and success of an Odia middle class family", as reported by a critic from Kalinga TV[12]. In the same year, Babushaan Mohanty's movie Daman created history with a box office collection of ₹7.5 crores[13], the highest collection figure in Ollywood for its time. In 2025, Babushaan Mohanty broke his own record with Bou Buttu Bhuta, which had a box office collection of ₹21 crores, making it the highest grossing Odia movie till date.[14]

Notable people

Actors

  • Ajit Das
  • Akash Das Nayak
  • Amlan Das
  • Arindam Roy
  • Atal Bihari Panda
  • Babushaan Mohanty
  • Buddhaditya Mohanty
  • Chandan Kar
  • Chittaranjan Tripathy
  • Dipanwit Dashmohapatra
  • Dukhiram Swain
  • Hara Patnaik
  • Harihara Mahapatra
  • Jayiram Samal
  • Jyoti Ranjan Nayak
  • Kuna Tripathy
  • Minaketan Das
  • Mohammad Mohsin
  • Munna Khan
  • Papu Pam Pam
  • Partha Sarathi Ray
  • Pintu Nanda
  • Rabi Mishra
  • Sabyasachi Mishra
  • Samaresh Routray
  • Sarat Pujari
  • Siddhanta Mahapatra
  • Sisir Misra
  • Sriram Panda
  • Sritam Das
  • Uttam Mohanty

Actresses

Directors

  • Himansu Sekhar Khatua
  • Manmohan Mahapatra
  • Apurba Kishore Bir
  • Ashok Pati
  • Bijaya Jena
  • Biswanath Rath
  • Chittaranjan Tripathy
  • Hara Patnaik
  • Mohammad Mohsin
  • Nila Madhab Panda
  • Nirad N. Mohapatra
  • Nitai Palit
  • Mehmood Hussain
  • Pranab Kumar Aich
  • Prashant Nanda
  • Prabhat Mukherjee
  • Ravi Kinagi
  • Sabyasachi Mohapatra
  • Sadhu Meher
  • Sanjay Nayak
  • Sarat Pujari
  • Sisir Mishra
  • Tapas Sargharia
  • Susant Mani
  • Raju Mishra
  • Vishal Mourya

Music directors

  • Akshaya Mohanty
  • Prafulla Kar
  • Bhubaneswar Mishra
  • Bappi Lahiri
  • Balakrushna Das
  • Shantanu Mahapatra
  • Upendra Kumar
  • Amarendra Mohanty
  • Raju Mishra
  • Sarat Nayak
  • Prem Anand
  • Goodli Rath
  • Abhijit Majumdar

Screenwriters

  • Subodh Patnaik

Male playback singers

Female playback singers

Art directors

  • Asim Basu
  • Nikhil Baran Sengupta

Awards

  • Odisha State Film Awards[15]
  • National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Odia[16]
  • National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress (1987) – Manjula Kanwar for Bhanga Silata[17]
  • National Film Award for Best Child Artist (1994) – Tarasankar Misra for Lavanya Preethi[18]
  • Filmfare Awards East[19][20]
Rank Film Year Worldwide Gross Lead Actor Ref.
1 Bou Buttu Bhuta 2025 ₹21 crore Babushaan Mohanty [21]
2 DAMaN 2022 ₹7.50 crore Babushaan Mohanty [22]
3 Karma 2024 ₹6.50 crore Anubhav Mohanty

See also

  • List of Oriya films

Citations

  1. ^ "STATEWISE NUMBER OF SINGLE SCREENS". Film Federation of India. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
  2. ^ "The New Capital at Bhubaneswar" (PDF). Government of Odisha. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  3. ^ "First archives for Odia films soon". The New Indian Express. 25 June 2020. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  4. ^ "History Of Oriya Film Industry". www.fullorissa.com. Archived from the original on 29 March 2014. Retrieved 23 October 2008.
  5. ^ "Position of Oriya Film Industry". Directorate of Film Festivals.
  6. ^ Nanda, Jayanta K. (2001). Industrial Development. Sarup & Sons. p. 146. ISBN 978-8176252539.
  7. ^ Rajadhyaksha, Ashish; Willemen, Paul (1999). Encyclopaedia of Indian Cinema. Fitzroy Dearborn. ISBN 978-1-57958-146-6.
  8. ^ Singh, K. S. (1992). People of India. Anthropological Survey of India. ISBN 978-81-7046-293-4.
  9. ^ a b "Orissa Cinema :: History of Orissa Cinema, Chronology of Orissa Films". orissacinema.com. Archived from the original on 5 July 2008. Retrieved 23 October 2008.
  10. ^ Rout, Kartik Chandra (1 January 2004). History of Modern Orissa (1936-2000). Anmol Publications. ISBN 978-81-261-2006-2.
  11. ^ "Amiya Patnaik cremated at Puri Swargadwara". The New Indian Express. 21 October 2018.
  12. ^ Himanshu (24 August 2023). "69th National Award winning Odia film 'Pratikshya' movie review". KalingaTV. Retrieved 22 March 2026.
  13. ^ "Box Office: Bou Buttu Bhuta emerges #1 Odia film of all time: To take on Jawan, KGF and Bahubali 2 in Odisha". PINKVILLA. 23 June 2025. Retrieved 22 March 2026.
  14. ^ Kumar, Anuj (5 February 2023). "'Daman' Odia movie review: Chasing cynicism in Malkangiri". The Hindu. Retrieved 2 June 2023.
  15. ^ Palit, Ashok. "For 29th Odisha state Film Awards only Eighteen main stream [sic] film has been entered for competition". Odisha News Times. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
  16. ^ "National Film Awards: 'Hello Arsi' best Odia feature film". 13 April 2018. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
  17. ^ "34th National Film Awards – 1987" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. p. 29. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 October 2014. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
  18. ^ "National Film Best Child Artist Award – Silver Lotus Award For Best Child Artist". www.awardsandshows.com. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
  19. ^ "Filmfare Awards East 2018: Bishorjon, Mayurakshi named Best films". www.indiatvnews.com. 19 February 2018. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
  20. ^ "Jaya returns from Bangladesh to attend Jio Filmfare Awards East 2018". Daily Sun. February 2018. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
  21. ^ Dixit, Mohit (22 June 2025). "Bou Butta Bhuta Box Office". Pinkvilla.
  22. ^ "DAMaN Box Office". Sacnilk.

General sources

  • Ghosh, Kartick Kumar (1984). Oriya Chalachitrara Itihas. Odisha Book Store. Contains information on films from 1934 to 1984.
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