BHUBANESWAR: Eminent cinematographer Srinivas Mahapatra who had worked with filmmakers such as Manmohan Desai, Vijay Anand in movies such as ‘Dharam Veer’, ‘Teesri Manzil’, ‘Blackmail’ and iconic Odia movies like ‘Jajabara’ was a member of the jury at the recently concluded GTIFF. He stressed on the need for more experimentation in case of Odia filmmakers.
On being enquired about GTIFF, he said, “Festivals of such kind offers an opportunity to witness filmmaking of various countries. We can learn a lot from such experiences.”
On being enquired about Odia movies that were screened at the fest, he said, “I loved some of the movies such as ‘Sani: The Son of Mahanadi’. Odia movies need encouragement from the government. Filmmakers must try to experiment more in their movies. They can take inspiration from our literature which has a rich history.”
Talking about the recent controversy regarding absence of Odia films in National Museum of Indian Cinema, he said, “Our films have been ignored and we believe that the museum is incomplete without Odia films. We will certainly take steps to ensure justice is meted out.”
“It is our primary objective to preserve the art form for future generations. Many of the movies such as ‘Bhakta Salabega’ where I worked a cinematographer completely lost in obvlivion,” he lamented.
On being enquired about the revival of Kalinga Studio, he said, “I tried to contact the new chairman of OFDC Kuna Tripathy. This was regarding the revival of Kalinga Studio. He has not met or talked to me ever since which shows the eagerness of the authorities.”
