Comedian Samalendu in a popular Oriya film

Bhubaneswar, March 9: Oriya cinema is celebrating its platinum jubilee but the lack of enthusiasm on the part of the state government has left artistes and film makers in the state aggrieved and disappointed.

Seventy-five years ago, when regional cinema was a distant dream for many, 27-day-old Orissa watched the premiere of the first Oriya film Sita Bibaha on April 28, 1936. History was made. Numerous masterpieces and classics have emerged in the seven and half decade journey, many of which have been appreciated and awarded worldwide.

But today, when it comes to celebrate the platinum jubilee, the enthusiasm seems missing. The celebration organised by the Orissa Film Development Corporation (OFDC) on Sunday to mark the occasion has annoyed the film fraternity.

The OFDC event was held as a part of the ongoing Entrepreneur’s Week at the Exhibition Ground. While many members of the film fraternity complained that they were not informed about the event, others alleged that it was held in a trivial manner.

Burying their differences, film makers from various genres got together on Tuesday to lodge a formal protest against the knee jerk approach of the government towards Oriya cinema.

“First of all, the event was neither held in an auditorium, nor a proper space to accommodate enough members of the film fraternity,” said Nirad Mohapatra, noted film maker.

“Moreover, the celebration comprised nothing but a screening of a short film that claimed to show the history of Oriya cinema while leaving out many milestones of the industry,” he said. “We protest against the tacit support of OFDC to the public screening of the film before scrutinising its historical accuracy and making necessary rectification,” he added.

“None of us were consulted or told about the preparation of the platinum jubilee celebrations. Moreover, it did not have to be a part of the Entrepreneur’s Week programme. It deserves to be an independent and grand programme,” said eminent director Manmohan Mohapatra. “The short film screened on the occasion did not have enough representation of either mainstream cinema or parallel cinema,” he added.

As part of the celebrations, OFDC has also organised film screenings at IDCOL auditorium and KIIT auditorium in Bhubaneswar. But the lack of publicity is drawing very little audience to the screenings.

“Neither has the OFDC properly publicised the screenings nor have they chosen a weekend to let film lovers attend it. Moreover, the facilities at the screening venue is disappointing,” said Sushant Mishra, whose Indradhanura Chhai screened at the festival was attended by only seven viewers.

“There was only one official from OFDC here. No prior arrangements had been made to make the screening successful,” he said. His father, Mahendra Mishra, who holds the copyright for Nitai Palit’s classic ‘Mala Janha’, thus refused to give the copy for screening. Many film lovers from Cuttack and Bhubaneswar who were here for the film, left disappointed.

“I was here to see the classic that has not been telecast on television or released in theatres since decades. But the sad attitude of the government towards our regional films has led to the failure of the screening,” said Pratibha Satpathy, renowned author.

Chairman of OFDC Munna Khan said: “The reason for the problems in screening is the unavailability of the CDs and copies of the films, due to which we missed out on commercial films and could not screen some of the listed films.”

Young and veteran artistes and film makers from the commercial stream are also unhappy with the low key celebration.

“It is unfortunate that while private organisations have celebrated 75 years of Oriya cinema grandly, the state government is incapable of a proper celebration,” said director Sanjay Nayak, who added that he was not even informed about the event.

“The event should have been held in a proper auditorium instead of a crammed space. The past, present and future of Oriya cinema should have been showcased to the public,” he said.

Actress Aparajita and actor son Babushan said they were very disappointed with the event. “Not only was the celebration disappointing, the sad part is that iconic figures of Oriya cinema were not even felicitated at the event. Also, only parallel cinema has been included in the screenings while films like Jajabara, Dandabalunga, Nagaphasa and so on have been neglected,” they said.