Bhubaneswar, June 14: Movie lovers thronged the cinemas here this weekend, as three Odia films and the much-awaited Hollywood film, Jurassic World, released last week.

The pahili raja or the first day of the three-day long Raja festival started from today and people celebrated the occasion. Most of them gathered at cinemas with the festive fervour.

"I, along with my family, had gone to watch Gapa Hele Bi Sata, an Odia film starring Anubhav and his wife Barsha Priyadarshini. They acted as an onscreen couple. It was worthwhile to watch the movie to celebrate Raja," said Arunika Mohanty, a girl from Badagada.

While most of the urban audience chose to enjoy their holidays by watching Jurassic World that is running in the single screen cinemas and the only multiplex in the city, the rural folks preferred Odia films. Besides Gapa Hele Bi Sata, two other Odia movies hit the screens as well. They are - Babushan starrer Super Michhua and Love You Hamesha starring Arindam. Jhilik Bhattacharjee stars in both the movies.

Keeping the festive spirit in mind, many Odia filmmakers target this season for film release, as during this festival, more people throng the cinemas. This year, three Odia films got a Raja release, as they got decent number of screens to premiere. Several other films failed to arrange screenings for this season. Besides, Bollywood films such as Humari Adhuri Kahani and Dil Dhadkne Do are doing good business at the multiplexes. However, it's the Odia movies that are ruling the roost this festive season. Actress Jhilik, who starred in two Raja releases, is more excited about the fans' reaction.

"I am quite excited about the audience feedback. I have worked with two of the most favoured actors of the industry and I hope that both the films will do good business during Raja," said Jhilik.

Even the audiences were seen comparing the acting of Jhilik to that of Barsha and the three male actors in these films. "I watched all three films and found Jhilik performing two different roles in two movies. She did justice to both the characters. Among the heroes, I am a big fan of Anubhav and he has given a wonderful performance. Arindam and Babusan have also done an excellent job," said Prashant Mishra, a movie enthusiast.

Out of the six single screens here, Odia films have come up in four and Jurassic World in two. One of the cinema owners said their shows were running houseful as expected during the festival.

Swagat Kar, a film distributor who runs an online booking portal, said the rush for Super Michua is quite high, as the Jhilik and Babushan pair has been a hit in previous films. "Booking for the Odia films began about a month ago and all the shows ran houseful this weekend. There is also rush for Jurassic World among the urban crowd," said Kar.