''Malajahna'' (Dead Moon) is a 1965 Oriya film written and directed by

Nitai Palit Nityananda Palit, known as Nitai Palit (8 March 1923 – 26 July 1990) was a playwright, actor and director. In 1965, he received the President's Award from Indira Gandhi for direction in his film ''Malajahna''. This was the first Oriya film eve ...

based on a novel of the same title by the Oriya novelist Upendra Kishore Das. The film stars Akshaya Mohanty (Kashyap) and

Jharana Das Jharana Das (, 1945 – 2 December 2022) was an Indian Ollywood actress and journalist. She was known for her contributions to the Odia film industry. Life and career Jharana Das started her career in the 1960s as a child artist and announcer ...

in the lead. Considered as a classic in the history of Oriya cinema, the film deals with an unusual theme in seventies in rural

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

of love between a married woman and a young man. This love story is narrated in the context of life in rural

Orissa Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of Sch ...

infested by superstitions, narrow caste prejudices and acute poverty. Women were like

slave Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

s with no mind and choice of their own and child marriages were widely prevalent. The agony and suffering of Sati may be seen as essentially related to the social evils that afflicted contemporary rural

Plot

Sati, the female protagonist of the movie, is forced into a marriage by her poor parents with a rich ugly old man living with a

concubine Concubinage is an interpersonal and sexual relationship between a man and a woman in which the couple does not want, or cannot enter into a full marriage. Concubinage and marriage are often regarded as similar but mutually exclusive. Concubi ...

. She finds another way to overcome the mishap in her life when a young neighbor Nath develops love interest in her. Both finally leave the village and escape to

Cuttack Cuttack (, or officially Kataka ) in Odia is the former capital and the second largest city in the Indian state of Odisha. It is the headquarters of the Cuttack district. The name of the city is an anglicised form of ''Kataka'' which literall ...

town. The conservative neighbors question their relationship. Sati, unable to bear the scandal concerning her and Natha, finally commits suicide by jumping into the river.

Cast

as Sati *Akshaya Mohanty (Kashyap) as Nath *Manimala as Sati's mother *Pira Misra * Sarat Mohanty as Achuti *Bhim Singh as Saita *Purna Singh *Geeta Dutt as Nishi/Baula

Production

The project was started in 1962 with the efforts of

Akshaya Mohanty Akshaya Mohanty, also known as ''Khoka Bhai'', was an Indian singer, lyricist, composer, musician and writer in Odia. He has contributed Odia bhajans, Odissi songs, folk songs, film and non-film modern light songs in Odisha on contemporary th ...

and Akshaya Mohanty (Kashyap). Some friends of the duo like Sarat Dev, Sriprasad Kanunugo and Arabinda Misra also supported them to overcome the financial crises. After four to five days of shooting, the project stopped due to financial crises. In 1963, the erstwhile king of Alli, Ban Bihari Dev again poured money to continue the project. After 60 percent shooting of the project was completed, the project stopped for another one year due to the same financial crises. At last

sought help of the producer and director

Dhira Biswal Dhira is a village in Batala in Gurdaspur district of Punjab State, India. The village is administrated by Sarpanch an elected representative of the village. Demography , The village has a total number of 191 houses and the population of 1 ...

. He took the responsibility on his shoulders and the film released in 1965.

Music

The music of the film was composed by the debutant

and the lyrics were written by Kabisurya Baladev Rath, Banamali and Binodini Devi. Singers were Akshay Mohanty, Pranab Patanaik, Nandita Ghose, Kalyani Bhattacharya and Nirmala Mishra. The tracks from the film include: "Tuchhaku Mahu" sung by Kalyani Bhattacharya "Mo Nan Te" sung by Nirmala Mishra "Rakata Tala Mala" sung by Akshay Mohanty "Mora Antara Mandire" sung by Pranab Patanaik "Mu Ta Kularu Gali" sung by Pranab Patanaik and Kalyani Bhattacharya "Galanita" sung by Akshay Mohanty

Awards

National Film Awards The National Film Awards is the most prominent film award ceremony in India. Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India and the Indian Panorama, by the Indian government's Directorat ...

(1965) -Certificate of merit for best

Odia Odia, also spelled Oriya or Odiya, may refer to: * Odia people in Odisha, India * Odia language, an Indian language, belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European language family * Odia alphabet, a writing system used for the Odia languag ...

film

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0249778, Malajhana 1965 films 1960s Odia-language films Indian drama films Indian black-and-white films