By Nageshwar Patnaik in Bhubanewar, February 20, 2015 :

Filmmaker Nirad Narayan Mohapatra, one of Odisha’s most celebrated directors, whose long critic-pleasing work earned him adulation in the film world, died of cardiac arrest on Thursday in Mumbai. He was 67.

He is survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter.

Dryly middle class urbane, Nirad had shot to the limelight with his first and last epoch making Odiya feature film Maya Miriga [Mirage] in 1984 with a shoestring budget comprising of amateur actors. Shot completely in Puri, the film portrayed the emotive issue of joint family, aspirations of its members and the eventual splits.

“The making of Maya Miriga was an exciting experience of improvisation within the broad framework of a written story. With a small crew and a team of non-professional artistes, we pitched our tents months in advance to dress up an abandoned house including its courtyard, which was to be our only set. We were lucky to have this house at our disposal and to have the best of both the worlds – a set on location”, Nirad wrote in his website.

The award winning film for the first time brought recognition to Odiya films in both national and international level for its cinematic treatment of a highly complex undivided Hindu family system. The film went on to bag several awards.

The film was adjudged as the second best national film in 1984, Indian Panorama, the Best Third World Film at Mannheim-Hiedelberg International Film Festival, the Special jury award at Hawaii Film Festival. It also won the State Award for Best Film and Best Director. It was also selected for the ‘Critics Week’ of Cannes, Regus London Film Festival, Locarno Film Festival, Los Angeles and other international film festivals. In 1985 he was invited to visit four US universities to lecture on films.

“I intended the film to be long and compassionate look at its characters, watching the members of a family inexorably progress towards their break-up. I belong there, to the small-town middle class joint family and have been fascinated by its dreams and agonizing nightmares. In it, I see a lot of warmth, fellow-feeling, sharing of experiences and a sense of responsibility. But I also see the tight-rope walking of the married sons, the bitterness of its locked-up daughters-in-law, their need for freedom, economic or otherwise, the maladjustment in marriages and above all, selfishness that can damage its very fiber”, he said in his website.

He never made a second feature film and concentrated on documentaries mostly based on cultural, ecological and industrial issues like Dhauligiri, The Story of Cement, Chhau Dance of Mayurbhanj, Patta Paintings, Tamasa Tire, The Vanishing Furniture, New Horizon, Aparajita, Ama Gaonra halachal, etc..

“There is no end to success. That is like intoxication. If you run for it, it will keep you running endlessly. Why should I run after it?” Nirad had told one of his closest friend and associate, Pranab Das when he tried to convince Nirad to make feature films.

Born on 12 November 1947, Nirad was the eldest of seven siblings. His father was a freedom fighter, journalist and politician. His mother was a school teacher. Nirad enrolled himself for postgraduate studies in Political Science at Utkal University but discontinued to pursue his love for cinema. He joined Film and Television Institute of India, Pune (FTII) Direction Course, 1968. In 1971, he passed out with a first class diploma in film direction.

As a lecturer in film direction during 1972-1974 at FTII, he taught many noted and acclaimed directors like Girish Kasaravalli, Janhu Barua, Sayeed Mirza, Ketan Mehta, Manmohan Mohapatra, Bidhu Binod Chopra.

Manmohan Mohapatra from Odisha – also a successful art film-maker, mourns his guru’s death, ‘Niradbabu was my guru. He taught me at FTII. His sudden demise will be an irreparable loss to Odiya film industry. He is the first person who brought international recognition to Odiya cinema. He was the source of inspiration behind my success. At his death, I have lost a guardian”.

With a missionary zeal to popularize good cinema, he founded Cinexstasy – a film society and successfully ran from 1974-1983 at Bhubaneswar. This was hugely popular and garnered lot of response from people interested in seeing good cinema from all around the world. Nirad was pivotal in many people from Orissa being inspired to take up a career in cinema and who went on to join FTII, Pune.

“He is the pioneer of parallel film movement in Odisha and his unexpected demise has shocked all of us. He has all the time encouraged young film makers to make good films. My film, “Sala Budha” was inaugurated by hum two years back. It was a rare honour for me. With his passing away, I have lost a great well-wisher”, film maker and director Sabyasachi Mohapatra said.