Bhubaneswar, March 28: What Paan Singh Tomar, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, Mary Kom had done, Odia film-maker Soumendra Padhi hopes to do the same with his film, Duronto, on child prodigy Budhia Singh.

Padhi said the film shows the kid's sudden rise and how he gradually faded into oblivion.

Budhia, the youngest marathon runner, had made headlines in 2006 for running a record-breaking 65km from Puri to Bhubaneswar in seven hours at the age of four.

With the film becoming the Best Children's Film at the 63rd National Film Awards announced today, Padhi hopes that it will help garner support for the child prodigy, who has faded into oblivion.

"I will release the film in the theatres and make sure that his story reaches as many people as possible and they come forward to support him. I am in touch with the family and trying to help them in every possible way," said Padhi.

The film is supposed to hit the theatres by mid of this year.

The one person that Budhia, now 14, remembered today after receiving the news of the award was his coach Biranchi Das.

"My sir would have been very happy over this development. The upcoming movie will make my mentor immortal," said the marathon runner. The film narrates Budhia's rise to stardom and his subsequent fall after his coach was gunned down in 2008.

While child actor Mayur from Pune is essaying Budhia's role, Manoj Bajpai is playing the role of the runner's coach Biranchi. The director has roped in local theatre actors for other roles. The Telegraph had, on January 5, published the news of the film being made on the child.

"It was an honest effort from our side. Once everybody gets to watch the film, I hope the government and corporate houses will come forward to help such young prodigies make their dream come true," said actor Bajpai over phone.

"I still have to give final touches to the film. I did not expect the award to come so soon," said Padhi.

The film was shot in Odisha, Delhi, Mumbai and Pune and was made after a lot of research.

At present, Budhia is studying at DAV Chandrasekharpur, Bhubaneswar and residing at a government sports hostel, where he is training as well. He was born in 2002 in a poor family. His mother, Sukanti, sold him to a hawker for Rs 800, but Biranchi intervened and rescued the child. It was Biranchi, who had worked hard to turn him into a prodigious long-distance runner.

In another development, for the second time in a row, Odia film-maker Sabyasachi Mohapatra's film Pahada Ra Luha has also won the best Odia film award.

His film is centred on the sorrows and sufferings of the Paraja tribe in Koraput due to mining and displacement. Last year, Adim Vichar that attempted to showcase the plight of elderly people in west Odisha villages bagged the honour.

Mohapatra started working on the film around 25 years ago but had to pause the project in the middle because of financial and other constraints.

"A lot of things had changed when I resumed shooting the film - such as the village, where I had started shooting the film, was no more there. But, I have been keeping a track of the happenings in the lives of the tribal people and wanted to complete the project.

Many local people from the tribe have acted in the film, along with actors such as Ashrumochan Mohanty, Soumen Pujari and Swati Ray in other leading roles.

"I also gave a leap of around 15 to 20 years in the story to make up for the gap in the shoot," said the 65-year-old film-maker.

At present, he is working on the sequel of his award-winning film Sala Budha and a biopic on Biju Patnaik.

Another Odisha-based film-maker Amartya Bhattacharyya has also won the National Award for the best cinematography in the non-feature film category for the film Benaras.