Bhubaneswar: Veteran Odia film director and popular lyricist Sarada Prasanna Nayak passed away while undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Bhubaneswar Wednesday night at the age of 94 years.
Sarada started his film career as an assistant director in the film ‘Bhakta Jayadev’ in 1956 and was honoured with the coveted Jayadev Award in 2013 for his contribution to Odia film industry.
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As the first Odia director, Sarada made his debut film ‘Lakshmi’ under the pseudonym Siddhartha. The film lasted for 100 days in theatres. Being inspired with Lakshmi’s success, he made several other films like ‘Kaa’, ‘Stree’ and ‘Sansara’. Sarada had taken V Shantaram as her inspiration in filmmaking.
The Odia filmmaker had directed many movies including his national award-winning film ‘Lakshmi’. He is the elder brother of film director Parbati Ghosh and music director Swaroop Nayak.
A pal of gloom descended among members of Odia film community with the sad demise of the legendary film-maker.
PNN
