Siddhant Mahapatra and (below) a still from Ekaa Ekaa

Bhubaneswar, Nov. 15: The second film of director Subas Das, Ekaa Ekaa, is set to win major honours at the 23rd Odia Film Awards ceremony.

The film, based on the life of a film-maker named Om, has bagged the best feature film, best actor and best screenplay awards.

Das, who made his debut with the National Award-winning Aw Aakare Aa, sounded rather surprised by the declaration.

“I put my heart into every project I undertake. Ekaa Ekaa is the first Odia film to be recorded in Dolby digital mode. I am happy that members of the jury have liked it and the film has won such laurels.”

Mumbai-based Namita Naik, who will get the award for sound recording for Ekaa Ekaa, is known for her audiography in films such as 1942: A Love Story, Filhaal and Iqbal.

Siddhant Mahapatra, who has played the role of film-maker Om in the movie, earlier won six state awards. But, he also feels that this will be a special award.

“All the previous ones were for commercial cinema. This is for the first time that I am going to receive the award for an art film. It feels great. However, I am eagerly waiting for public opinion on the film once it releases,” said the actor.

Das, who is also the president of the Film Society of Bhubaneswar, looks forward to releasing the film in late December. But, there are certain roadblocks. “Films such as Ekaa Ekaa hardly find any distributor. At best, I may find someone, who will agree to run it at least on the morning shows, so that people can watch it,” he said.

In this year’s awards ceremony, actor Shriram Panda will be felicitated with the Jayadev Award, an honour for lifetime achievement. Veteran director Prashant Nanda will get the best director’s award for Thukul while Archita Sahu, the best actress’s award for her role in Chocolate.

The Odisha Sangeet Natak Akademi today announced the awards. Awards in many new categories such as dialogue writing, costume designing, make-up and choreography have been introduced this year. However, no winners have been selected for categories such as documentary film, educational or children’s film and best film in tribal language.

The jury had to select the winners from 10 applications. Eminent personalities such as vice-chancellor of Utkal University of Culture Amiya Pattnaik, businesswoman Jagi Mangat Panda, film critic Dilip Hali, dramatist Kartik Chandra Rath, singer Prafulla Kar, director Sisir Mohan Pati and producer Pravanshu Samantaray form the jury board.

The winners will be felicitated with cash prizes at the award ceremony, which will be held at Utkal Mandap on November 25.