Nirad Narayan Mohapatra (12 November 1947 – 19 February 2015) was an Indian film director. Mohapatra was born in the Indian state of
Odisha
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 ...
. He directed the
Oriya language
Odia (, ISO: , ; formerly rendered Oriya ) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Indian state of Odisha. It is the official language in Odisha (formerly rendered Orissa), where native speakers make up 82% of the population, and it is also ...
film ''
Maya Miriga
''Maya Miriga'' (English ''The Mirage'') is a 1984 award-winning Odia film directed by Nirad N. Mohapatra.
Story
The story is of a family, where three generations live under a decaying roof. The widowed grandmother is the titular head, her son ...
'', television
soap opera
A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...
s and
documentaries
A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in term ...
.
Early life
Mohapatra's father a journalist who was against
British rule
The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent;
*
* it is also called Crown rule in India,
*
*
*
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or Direct rule in India,
* Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...
and entered politics after India obtained independence. His mother was a schoolteacher. Nirad was the eldest of 7 children. As a child he visited a cinema near his house in
Bhadrak
Bhadrak is a city of Odisha state in eastern India. The city is the district headquarters of Bhadrak district. According to legend, the city derives its name from the Goddess Bhadrakali, whose temple is on the banks of the Salandi River.
His ...
,
Odisha
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 ...
. Nirad obtained a B.A degree with distinction in 1967', then enrolled for postgraduate studies in Political Science at
Utkal University
Utkal University (UU) is a Public university in Bhubaneswar, Khordha district, Khordha, Odisha, and is the oldest university in Odisha, the state, and the 17th-oldest university in India. It is a teaching-cum-affiliating university. The pre ...
. He discontinued them in 1968 to start a diploma in film directing at the
Film and Television Institute of India
The Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) is a film institute under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of India and aided by the Central Government of India. It is situated on the premises of the erstwhile ...
in
Pune
Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...
. He completed the diploma in 1971 and worked as a lecturer at the Institute from 1972.
Career
In 1974 he founded ''Cinexstasy'', a film society at
Bhubaneswar
Bhubaneswar (; ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Odisha. The region, especially the old town, was historically often depicted as ''Ekamra Kshetra'' (area (''kshetra'') adorned with mango trees (''ekamra'')). Bhubaneswar is ...
,
Odisha
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 ...
, screening classics of world cinema accompanied by analysis. He ran the society until 1983. He edited the film section of arts journal ''Mana Phasal'', continued to lecture at FTII, wrote for national journals, made documentary films and taught a film appreciation course at Utkal University.
He married Sabita Mohanty in 1978, who, although the marriage was arranged, had attended the film appreciation course and ''Cinexstasy''.
In 1984 Nirad made ''Maya Miriga'', his first feature film, produced on a shoestring budget. It was shot in
Puri
Puri () is a coastal city and a Nagar Palika, municipality in the state of Odisha in eastern India. It is the district headquarters of Puri district and is situated on the Bay of Bengal, south of the state capital of Bhubaneswar. It is als ...
, a beach-side town in
Odisha
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 ...
. The film dealt with family issues, aspirations and break-up. It placed second in that year's Indian Panorama awards for Best National Film and was adjudged the Best Third World Film at
International Film Festival Mannheim-Heidelberg, Germany. It received a special jury award at
Hawaii International Film Festival
The Hawai'i International Film Festival (HIFF) is an annual film festival held in the United States state of Hawaii.
HIFF has a focus on Asian-Pacific cinema, education, and the work of new and emerging filmmakers. HIFF’s primary festival is h ...
, US. It was selected for the 'Critics Week' of
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...
(
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
),
BFI London Film Festival
The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival founded in 1957 and held in the United Kingdom, running for two weeks in October with co-operation from the British Film Institute. It screens more than 300 films, documentaries and shor ...
,
Locarno Film Festival
The Locarno Film Festival is an annual film festival, held every August in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narrative, documentary, s ...
,
Los Angeles Film Festival
The LA Film Festival was an annual film festival that was held in Los Angeles, California, and usually took place in June. It showcased independent, international, feature, documentary and short films, as well as web series, music videos, episod ...
and other International Film Festivals. In 1985, he was invited to visit four US universities to lecture on film.
Mohapatra specialised in documentaries. He was a member of the national film jury and member selection panel for Indian Panorama and a jury member for the 5th International Children's Film Festival, Bhubaneswar. He sat on the governing council of the Film and TV Institute, Pune. He was a member of the NFDC script committee for
Odisha
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 ...
. He was twice member of the Academic Council, Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute,
Kolkata
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...
. He was the chairman of the Academic Council of the Biju Patnaik Film and Television Institute,
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 ...
,
Odisha
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 ...
, and member of the Governing Council,
SIET, Bhubaneswar. He was a guest lecturer at the Film School of KIIT University,
Bhubaneswar
Bhubaneswar (; ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Odisha. The region, especially the old town, was historically often depicted as ''Ekamra Kshetra'' (area (''kshetra'') adorned with mango trees (''ekamra'')). Bhubaneswar is ...
.
He died of cardiac arrest on 19 February 2015.
Filmography
References
External links
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* http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/1368/year/1984.html
ef.3BFI.org ef.4* http://delcinema.it/news/2007-06/locarno_it_giorno_di_bruno_ganz.php
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NY Times – Maya Miriga Overview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mohapatra, Nirad
1947 births
2015 deaths
Film directors from Odisha
Film and Television Institute of India alumni
Odia film directors
People from Bhadrak
Indian documentary film directors
20th-century Indian film directors
21st-century Indian film directors