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Bhubaneswar, April 8: A documentary on Nabakalebara titled ‘God’s Own People’ was screened at INOX here Friday. The documentary produced by film-maker Padmashri Nila Madhab Panda was sponsored by the State culture and tourism department.
Governor SC Jamir and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik were at the screening.
This film offers a new form of documentary, which could set an example for documentary makers. It starts with a folk song based on Lord Jagannath which then intertwines with emotions and rituals associated with Nabakalebara.
The emotions attached with the Lord are beautifully projected and the use of natural ambience keeps the audience hooked till the end.
While the narration in the film has been done by Avijit Dutt, Puloma Pal is the editor, Mahesh Ranjan Pradhan handled sound and Indraneel Lahiri was the director of photography.
During the special screening the abridged form of the original 80-minute documentary was shown which received huge appreciation from dignitaries present on the occasion. “The documentary has been made to be viewed around the globe. I am sure this will be appreciated by many Oriyas and others all over the world,” the chief minister said.
When asked about when the film will be released, tourism and culture minister Ashok Kumar Panda said: “Right now we are planning to send the film to different film festivals in India and abroad, after that it will be released in theatres. The film has been beautifully made and we feel it will receive positive response from everywhere.”
Nila Madhab Panda, the director, said: “The film explores the various emotions associated with Nabakalebara. It is a film based on lord Jagannath and whosoever sees it will feel proud about it. Moreover, through this film we want to spread the idea that we can do quality movies and can take it to the international level. Our aim here is to screen this film in as many forums as possible. We are going to send the full-length film for Cannes Film Festival.”
On the research involved in the making of the film, co-director and script writer Shankajeet De said: “The film involved lots of research and interaction with experts. The last Nabakalebara happened 19 years back and lots of things have changed since. So nobody knew much about it. Through this documentary we tried to capture the true essence of Nabakalebara and the relations of the devotees with the Lord. We started the shooting in March 2015 when the Nabakalebara rituals started.
“When we were planning the shoot, we thought that Nabakalebara would be a big opportunity to know why people love and worship Lord Jagannath and for this we prepared around six questions and asked people. Most conversations were natural which is why it took us around 10 months in editing alone.”
The film, according to Shankajeet, explores the emotions of people, ideas of anticipation, love, longing, separation, faith and surrender to God and has projected it the way they appeared. “The subject is so deep and complex that it took us more than a year to complete the film. To present the concept in an easy way it took us lots of time and hard work,” Shankajeet added.
The launch screening was attended by excise minister Damodar Rout, urban development minister Pushpendu Singhdeo, agriculture minister Pradeep Maharathi, parliamentary affairs minister Bikram Keshari Arukh, I&PR minister Atanu Sabyasachi, law minister Arun Sahoo, tourism minister Ashok Panda, Supply Minister Sanjay Das Burma, Energy Minister Pranab Prakash Das. Higher Education minister Pradeep Panigrahi, MLA Akash Das Nayak, DGP Odisha Police KV Singh, DG Vigilance RP Sharma, MSME and Tourism Principal Secretary Gagan Dhal and KIIT and KIIS founder Achyut Samanta were also present at the event.
