Bhubaneswar, March 29: Odia cinema has got a fresh lease of life with a film by Sabyasachi Mohapatra winning a national award.

Five films were in the running in the Best Odia Film category. This is heartening since no Odia movies had been nominated in any category of the national awards in the past seven years.

Things are not looking good for the Odia film industry. From lack of funds to scarcity of cinemas, the Odia film industry has been facing many issues over the past few years.

The Odisha Film Development Corporation (OFDC) still works in an age-old fashion where it provides a maximum subsidy of Rs 4 lakh per film and that too through a complicated process.

'Producers and filmmakers don't even apply for the subsidy,' said an OFDC official.

Many filmmakers would depend on private financers. Since several realty giants and money deposit collection firm owners went under the CBI scanner, the number of films has declined sharply. From 38 films in 2013, the number of movies released in the state dipped to 25 in 2014.

No big budget films have released in 2015 except for Bhaunri, starring Arindam, which was made with a modest budget.

While there are only six theatres with about 10 screens in the city, the rest of the state has about 60 cinemas. In case of art films, there are no avenues for a release to a large audience.

Kalinga Studio, which was once a major hub for filmmakers even from other parts of the country, especially Bengal and Andhra Pradesh, is in a shambles.

Its future lies in the hands of Orissa High Court, which will decide on a petition that pleads to preserve the institution.