The Odia film industry, colloquially known as Ollywood, is the Odia language Indian film industry, based in

Bhubaneshwar Bhubaneswar (; ) is the capital and largest city of the States and territories of India, Indian state of Odisha. The region, especially the old town, was historically often depicted as ''Ekamra Kshetra'' (area (''kshetra'') adorned with mango tr ...

and Cuttack in Odisha, India. The name Ollywood is a portmanteau of the words

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 ...

and

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

Industry

In 1974, the Government of Odisha declared film making and construction of cinema theatres as an industry in the state, and in 1976 it established the Odisha Film Development Corporation in Cuttack.

History

Odisha has a history of filmmaking, starting from 1936. The first Odia film is ''

Sita Bibaha ''Seeta Bibaha'' (1936) was the first Oriya film directed by Mohan Sundar Deb Goswami; it presented the marriage of Lord Rama to Sita, based on the epic story Ramayana. The film starred Makhanlal Bannerjee, Mohan Sundar Deb Goswami, Krishnac ...

'', made by

Mohan Sundar Deb Goswami Mohan Sundar Deb Goswami (, 8 August 1892 – 11 January 1948) was an Odissi musician, poet & composer, a Guru of traditional ''Rahasa'' or ''Rasa'' and film director in Odia-language films. Widely known for his efforts to keep alive the ''Rahas ...

in 1936. Drawn from the Indian epic '' Ramayana'', the story is about the marriage of Sita and Ram. The film plot was made from a drama written by Kamapala Mishra. Prepared with a budget of only Rs 30,000, the film has 14 song sequences. Despite it being the first Odia film with several drawbacks in every section of its making, the two-hour-long movie generated great enthusiasm among the people. It was released in Laksmi Talkies, Puri. The 12-reeled film had in its cast Makhanlal Banerjee (Ram), who received only Rs 120 for his performance, Aditya Ballav Mohanty (Lakhsman), who got only Rs 35 as conveyance allowance, and Prabati Devi (Sita), who was paid the highest amount of Rs 150. This was a landmark film of the Odia film Industry. The pace of Odia film production in the initial years was very slow. After ''Sita Bibaha'', only two films were produced until 1951. A joint consortium of landlords and businessmen who collected funds after 1948 produced those two movies. The 1951 production ''Roles Two Eight'' was the first Odia film with an English name. It was released 15 years after the first Odia film, ''Sita Bibaha''. It was the fourth Odia film produced by Ratikant Padhi. The eleventh Odia film, ''

Sri Lokanath ''Sri Lokanath'' is a 1960 Indian Odia-language film directed by Prafulla Sengupta and based on a story by Aswini Kumar Ghosh. This Indian socio-fantasy film won a National Film Award in 1960, and was the 11th Odia film produced under Ruprang ...

'', was directed by Prafulla Sengupta and received the National Award in 1960. The same year, Prasanta Nanda won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Odia for his debut film, '' Nua Bou''. His name would always be synonymous with the Odia film industry. He was present in Odia films since 1959, but he became very active only after 1976. Nanda was an actor, director, screenplay writer, lyricist and playback singer. Nanda won National Awards three times, in 1960, 1966 and 1969 for his acting in '' Nua Bou'', '' Matir Manisha'' and '' Adina Megha''. Mohammad Mohsin started the revolution in the Odia film industry by not only securing the essence of the Odia culture but also changing the way the film industry watched Odia movies. ''Phoola Chandana'' was written by Ananda Sankar Das. He belongs to Cuttack. His movies heralded the golden era of the Odia film industry by bringing in freshness to Odia movies. His directorial debut was ''Phoola Chandana'' for which he won the Odisha State Film Award for Best Director. He had to his credit 16 box office successful movies in his directorial stint. He started as an actor in character roles and gave household names like Raaka to Odisha. Amiya Ranjan Patnaik, who started his career directing ''Mamata Mage Mula'', changed the dimension of the Odia film industry by producing big budget movies with multiple star casts, which was a new trend at that time. He introduced many newcomers, musicians, technicians and singers from Mumbai and Chennai. He also produced the National Award-winning film ''Hakim Babu'' in 1985, directed by Pranab Das. His film ''Pua Mora Kala Thakura'', directed by Raju Mishra, was one of the biggest successes in the Odia film industry, followed by ''Chaka Aakhi Sabu Dekhuchi'' and ''Asuchi Mo Kalia Suna''. He frequently collaborated with Raju Mishra, Akshaya Mohanty, Bijay Mohanty and

Uttam Mohanty Uttam Mohanty is an Indian actor who has to his credit more than 135 Odia films to date and has acted in 30 Bengali films and in a Hindi film ''Naya Zaher''. Early life Uttam Mohanty was born and brought up at Baripada in Odisha. His grandfat ...

. He started the trend of producing trilingual films in the Odia film industry. ''Raja Rani'', ''Paradeshi Babu'' and ''Parimahal'' were made in Odia, Bengali and Bangladeshi. He made a comeback as a director and made

Tulasi Apa ''Tulasi Apa'' is a 2017 first Odia biographical film, produced by Anupam Patnaik and directed by Amiya Patnaik. The film depicts the life of Tulasi Munda, an educator and social activist from Keonjhar, Odisha. The film was released on 19 May ...

produced by his son Anupam Patnaik.

was a critical success within many international festivals. This was the first biopic of Odisha based on Padmashree Tulasi Munda.

, whose debut film ''Abhiman'' won accolades, was very successful in the 1980s. His wife Aparajita Mohanty is also an actress. Critics have named Bijay Mohanty and Mihir Das to be two of the best Odia actors so far 80'and 90's. In 1990s Siddhanta Mahapatra, a new generation star,with his action and comedy movies gave national recognition to odiya industry. Actress

Nandita Das Nandita Das (born 7 November 1969) is an Indian actress and director. She has acted in over 40 feature films in ten different languages. Das appeared in the films ''Fire'' (1996), ''Earth'' (1998), ''Bawandar'' (2000), ''Kannathil Muthamittal'' ...

, who acted in several Hindi movies like ''Fire,'' has an Odia origin. She acted in the Susanta Misra-directed ''

Biswaprakash Biswaprakash (aka ''The Young Rebel'') is a 1999 Cinema of India, Indian Oriya film directed by Susant Mishra, Susant Misra. This multi-layered plot with complex characters has been young and acclaimed filmmaker Susant Mishra’s favourite format ...

'', which won a National Award in 2000. Barsha Priyadarshini is also another successful actress in the millennium era of Odia cinema. Anubhab Mohanty is a well-known name in Ollywood, famous for his action and romantic movies. Mrinal Sen directed an Odia film, Matira Manisha, which won a National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Odia to Prashanta Nanda. ''

'' is one of the movie in Odia Cinema made in 1936 which is almost nearer to the 1st Indian talkie cinema "Alam Ara" made in 1930.

Notable people

Actors

* Bijay Mohanty *

* Siddhanta Mahapatra * Anubhav Mohanty * Arindam Roy * Babushaan Mohanty * Akash Das Nayak * Samaresh Routray *

Sritam Das Sritam Das ( or, ଶ୍ରୀତମ ଦାସ) is an Odia actor and director. He made his Ollywood debut with the film ''Sabitri'' in 1995. Filmography References External links * {{DEFAULTSORT:Das, Sritam Male actors from Odisha ...

* Dukhiram Swain *

Jayiram Samal Jayiram Samal (born 1948), also known as Jayee, is an Indian actor known for his comic roles in Odia cinema (Ollywood). He is accredited in over 300 works, including films, television serials, and plays. He started his career in the 1970s as a ...

* Mihir Das *

Hara Patnaik Hara Pattanaik (12 October 1958 – 13 January 2015), also known as Hari Patnaik, was an Indian actor, director and screenplay writer known for his works in Odia cinema. He has acted over 60 Odia-language movies and directed about 19 others. Pat ...

* Kuna Tripathy *

Papu Pam Pam Tattwa Prakash Satapathy, better known by his stage name Papu Pom Pom, is an Indian film, television, Music Director, standup comedian and an Odisha Legislative Assembly candidate. Satapathy has acted in over 50 Odia movies. He was the main le ...

Harihara Mahapatra Harihara Mahapatra is an Indian actor, comedian and politician, who mostly works in Odia language films known as Ollywood. Career Harihara has worked in Odia films like Dil Tate Deichi (2010), Love Dot Com, Akhire Akhire, Pagala Karichu Tu, Ha ...

* Prasanta Nanda * Sabyasachi Mishra *

Sadhu Meher Sadhu Meher (born in Odisha, India) is an Indian actor, director, and producer. He has performed in both Odia and Hindi films. He primarily began his career in Hindi films such as ''Bhuvan Shome'', '' Ankur'' and '' Mrigaya''. Later on shifte ...

Sarat Pujari Sarat Pujari (8 August 1934 – 12 May 2014) was an Indian actor, director and producer in Odia film industry (Ollywood). He was originally from Jhaduapada, Sambalpur. Early life and background Sarat Pujari was born on 8 August 1934 at Khand ...

Sriram Panda Sriram Panda ( or, ଶ୍ରୀରାମ ପଣ୍ଡା, born c. 1954) is an Indian Odia actor, director and a screenplay writer hailing from the Nabarangpur district, Odisha, India. Career Sriram Panda started his film career in Dhir Biswal' ...

Rabi Mishra Rabi Mishra (1957 – 20 January 2021) was an Indian actor who worked in Odia films, television serials, and theatres. He was known for his comedy characters. Mishra played various roles from negative to character artist in many TV series and ...

Actresses

Anu Chowdhury Anu Choudhury is a leading Indian actress. She has starred in more than 65 films. Her debut Odia film was ''Maa Goja Bayani''. Early life Anu was born in Bhubaneswar to Odia film editor Rabi Choudhury and Soudamini Choudhury. Rabi Chaudhury ...

* Aparajita Mohanty *

Archita Sahu Archita Sahu is an Indian actress, model, and television personality with an established career in Odia Films. She was runner-up in the 2013 Femina Miss India, Kolkata. Her numerous accolades as an actress include four Odisha State Film Award ...

* Barsha Priyadarshini *

Bhanumati Devi Bhanumati Devi (15 May 1934 – 4 January 2013) was a Burmese-born Indian film and theater actress. Devi was born in British Burma on 15 May 1934. She moved to Puri, Odisha, India, with her Indian family following World War II. Devi began ac ...

* *

Elina Samantray Elina Samantray is an Indian actress who works in Odia films. She made her career debut with the film ''Ishq Tu Hi Tu''. She was the winner of the first season of the reality television show ''Kie Heba Mo Heroine'', which was broadcast on Taran ...

Kavya Keeran Kavya Keeran is an Indian actress and model who has mostly appeared in Odia and Hindi films. She started her film career in Ollywood in 2013 through the 1st Odia 3D film Kaunri Kanya along with Pupul Bhuyan. In 2015, she debuted in Bollywood tho ...

* Mahasweta Ray *

Naina Das Naina Das (also known as "Naina Dash") is an Odia actress who is Bhubaneswar based and has acted for Odia Cinema The Odia film industry, colloquially known as Ollywood, is the Odia language Indian film industry, based in Bhubaneshwar and ...

* Prakruti Mishra * Rachana Banerjee *

Rajeswari Ray ‌Rajeswari Ray (death: 20 July 2022) was an Indian actress and television presenter from Odisha. She started her career as a television presenter and then appeared in popular Odia daily soaps like Basundahara, Sanskar, Devi, Swabhiman, Unasi ...

Riya Dey Swarnali Dey, known popularly by her screen name Riya Dey is an Indian actress, model and television personality known for her work in Odia films. Her numerous accolades include an Odisha State Film Award for Prema Adhei Akhyara Prema may ref ...

* Tandra Ray *

Tamanna Vyas Tamanna Vyas is an Indian actress who works in Odia film industry. She made her debut in the movie ''Joker'' opposite actor Papu Pom Pom in 2015. She has been selected in the Top-10 list of the Miss Diva - 2018 in Mumbai. Early life Tamanna w ...

Pupul Bhuyan Pupul Bhuyan () (born on 23 February 1992) is an Indian actress, television presenter, and model who has mostly appeared in Odia films, telefilms, daily shops, and reality shows. She started her film career in Ollywood in 2013 through the 1st O ...

Directors

* Manmohan Mahapatra * Ashok Pati *

Bijaya Jena Bijaya Jena (also known as Dolly Jena or Bijoya Jena; or, ଡଲି ଜେନା), born 16 August in Cuttack, Odisha, is an Indian actor, film director and producer. She won the Indian National Film Award (Best director) for the Odia languag ...

* Biswanath Rath *

Chittaranjan Tripathy Chittaranjan Tripathy (born in 1971) is an actor, director, and music director who predominantly works in Hindi and Odia films. He also acted & directed several Bollywood and Ollywood movies, But he is best known for his role as 'Trivedi' in ...

* Mohammad Mohsin * Nila Madhab Panda * Nirad N. Mohapatra *

Mehmood Hussain Mehmood Hussain was an Indian filmmaker, avant-garde auteur, director and author hailing from the Indian state of Odisha. Mehmood's feature films and documentaries had represented India in four International film festivals. His first feature ...

* Prashant Nanda * Ravi Kinagi *

Sabyasachi Mohapatra Sabyasachi Mohapatra (born 27 August 1950 in Lehedi, India) is an Indian film director, writer, and producer in Odia cinema. He owns a production house named ''Mohapatra Movie Magic''. Career Mohapatra made his directorial debut in film Bhukh ...

Sanjay Nayak Sanjay Nayak is an Indian Odia filmmaker. He regarded as one of the most successful filmmakers in Odisha. Nayak, the young filmmaker has directed 32 movies in a short career of 15yrs in the film industry. He has also produced several movies un ...

Sisir Mishra Sisir Mishra is an Indian film director and screenwriter best known for directing Hindi and Odia language films including '' Bheegi Palkein'', ''Samay Ki Dhara'', ''Billoo Baadshaah'', ''TADA'' and ''Aseema''. In 2018 he was awarded the Padm ...

* Susant Mani *

Raju Mishra Raja Mishra (died 2 November 2020) was an Odia film director, actor, screen writer, cinematographer and music director. He was a gold medalist in cinematography from Film and Television Institute of India The Film and Television Institute o ...

Music directors

* Akshaya Mohanty *

Prafulla Kar Prafulla Kar (16 February 1939 – 17 April 2022) was an Odia musician, singer, lyricist, writer and columnist. He received Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award by the Government of India in 2015 for his contribution in the field of a ...

Bhubaneswar Mishra Bhubaneswar Mishra (born 9 November 1961) is an Indian American computer scientist and professor at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences of New York University. He is known for his applied contributions to bioinformatics, cybersec ...

* Balakrushna Das *

Upendra Kumar Upendra Kumar (18 July 1941 – 24 January 2002) was an Indian composer who predominantly worked in Kannada and Odia films. He was known for his strong association with Rajkumar and his family and scored some of his career best compositions for ...

Amarendra Mohanty Amarendra Mohanty (Odisha: ଅମରେନ୍ଦ୍ର ମହାନ୍ତି; 6 February 1958 – 17 May 2021) was an Indian music composer and singer who mainly worked in Odia film and television industry. Personal life Amarendra was bo ...

Sarat Nayak Sarat Nayak ( or, ଶରତ ନାୟକ) is a music composer and singer in Ollywood for the state Odisha in India. Life and career Sarat Nayak was born in Pattamundai. He has completed Post Graduation in Oriya from Utkal University(Vanivihar ...

* Prem Anand *

Goodli Rath Goodly Rath, also spelled Goodli, is an Indian film composer, musician, and singer. His range of work includes playback singing, vocal arrangements, musical arrangements, background scores, music programming, production. His unique style and mu ...

Abhijit Majumdar Abhijit Majumdar is an Indian film music director and composer in Odia films. Career Abhijit Majumdar started his career from Sambalpuri Industry, later he started working on Ollywood. He is the most reputed music composer of Odia Film Indust ...

Screenwriters

Subodh Patnaik Subodh Patnaik was a screenwriter and dialogue writer in Odia language films. He also received Odisha Sahitya Academy Award for his book 'Ho Bhagate' for category One-act play in 1990. Career In 1984, Brajaraj Movie's 'Danda Balunga' was the f ...

Singers

* Aarti Mukherjee * Akshaya Mohanty *

Bhikari Bal ''Pandit'' Bhikari Charan Bal (Bhikāri Charaṇa Baḷa; 1929-2010), better known as ''Bhajan Samrat'' to the people of Odisha, was an Odissi music guru and singer, best known for his renditions of traditional Odia bhajanas, devotional songs ...

* Raghunath Panigrahi * Balakrushna Das *

Shyamamani Pattnaik Shyamamani Devi (; born 1938) is a Odissi classical music vocalist composer. A disciple of Gurus Singhari Shyamsundar Kar and Balakrushna Dash, she is known for her popular renditions of classical Odissi music, such as Odissi, Chhanda, Champu, ...

* Ananya Nanda * Anuradha Paudwal *

Babul Supriyo Babul Supriyo (born 15 December 1970) is an Indian playback singer, live performer, television host, actor and politician who currently serves as Cabinet Minister of Information Technology and Electronics and Tourism of the Government of Wes ...

* Babushan * Biswajit Mohapatra *

Diptirekha Padhi Diptirekha Padhi known as Diptirekha is an Indian Odia playback singer from Bhubaneswar, Odisha. She won the 9th Tarang Music award in 2017. Career Diptirekha has mostly worked in many Odia language films as a playback singer. She has also ...

* Humane Sagar *

Kuldeep Pattanaik Kuldeep Singh' is a given name. Notable people with the name include: * Kuldeep Bishnoi (born 1968), Indian Member of Parliament * Kuldeep Kumar (born 1950), Indian politician * Kuldeep Manak (1951–2011), Indian Punjabi singer * Kuldeep Pawar (19 ...

* Krishna Beura * Mohammad Aziz * Rituraj Mohanty * S. Janaki *

Sarbeswar Bhoi Sarbeswar Bhoi is an Indian folksinger from Kalahandi, India of Sambalpuri folk music. He sang songs such as "Likri Jhkri' and "Lal Jhara Jhara" for the Sambalpuri movie ''Aadim Vichar'', which won National Award for Best Feature Film in Odia C ...

Sohini Mishra Sohini Mishra is a playback singer based in Mumbai, India. She hails from Cuttack, Odisha. She came to limelight through Sony TV's reality show Indian Idol 6 (2012). She was one of the top six contestants. Mishra is an approved artiste (B Hig ...

Suresh Wadkar Suresh Ishwar Wadkar (born 7 August 1955) is an Indian playback singer. He performs in both Hindi and Marathi films. He has sung songs in some Bhojpuri films, Odia albums and bhajans and in Konkani films. He was awarded the Sangeet Natak Aka ...

* Udit Narayan * Vani Jairam

Art directors

Asim Basu Asim Basu ( or, ଅସୀମ ବସୁ) was an Indian theatre artiste and director, actor, art director, painter and playwright. Basu was known for his set design work in Ollywood movies and designing Odia book covers and movie posters. Earl ...

Nikhil Baran Sengupta Nikhil Baran Sengupta (13 December 1943 – 18 February 2014) was a Hindi, Bengali, and Oriya art director, actor, painter and production designer. He made his debut as an art-director with "Gapa hele be Sata" (1975). His contribution to the su ...

Awards

* Odisha State Film Awards * National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Odia * National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress (1987) -

Manjula Kanwar Manjula Kanwar is an Indian actress known for her work in Odia cinema. She has acted in two films: ''Bhangala Silata'' (1998) and ''Raju Awara'' (2012). She won the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress The National Film Award for ...

for ''Bhanga Silata'' * National Film Award for Best Child Artist (1994) - Tarasankar Misra for ''Lavanya Preethi'' * Filmfare Awards East

Citations

General sources

* Contains information on films from 1934 to 1984.

External links

Orissa: Seventy-Five Years of Oriya Cinema
* https://archive.today/2013.06.24-210753/http://www.odishaglitz.com/events-news/ups-and-downs-in-odia-cinema-telaram-meher-phd-research-scholar.html * https://archive.today/2013.06.24-210811/http://www.odishaglitz.com/events-news/ufo-theatre-list-in-odisha.html {{Odia language