Bhubaneswar, March 12: Woman protagonist taking the lead in Odia films is emerging as the new trend with back-to-back movies highlighting them in power-packed avatars.

Be it the recent releases Nai Separi Kanak Gori or ACP Sagarika, upcoming movie Lalpan Bibi or last year’s Bad Girl, filmmakers are choosing subjects that portray women as self-confident and courageous.

In Nai Separi Kanak Gori, Kanak, played by Ralli Nanda, is shown as a strong woman who has been mistaken as demure belle by the villagers. However, in reality, she has a secret martial campaign against the goons in the village.

On the other hand, Archita in ACP Sagarika is an out-and-out fighter. This is not the first time women are shown as dauntless characters in Odia films.

“There have been films earlier such as Mahasweta Ray’s Lalpan Bibi or Aparajita’s Udandi Sita that showed women are brave who could teach a lesson when wronged. But today we need to portray them as capable of taking strong decisions and ready for any challenge,” said Biranchi Narayan Panda, director of ACP Sagarika.

However, the fighting spirit of a woman is not all that has caught the attention of filmmakers today. They are also celebrating the beauty of women, which is being depicted in a positive way in the present crop of films.

“Though my film bears a similar title to that of over four-decade-old classic Lalpan Bibi, in my film, we are trying to illustrate how being beautiful can also be a special virtue for women. And how men find their own ways to blame women and their beauty for their wrong motives. Anu is playing a very strong but attractive woman in the upcoming film. Men drool over her, but she does what she wants,” said Abhishek, one of the directors of the new Lalpan Bibi.

Women actresses themselves find it liberating that the wind of respect for them is blowing in the Odia film industry right now.

“Women are intelligent, confident and sincere in whatever they do. And that is being portrayed in different ways today. This is a wonderful change in our industry, which, for some years now, was busy appealing the audience with macho heroes and action. I am not opposed to that though. Yet, I am happy to see the compliments coming our way when we enact strong women in films. Even men appreciate it and this can make an impact on the society,” said actress Archita.