Bhubaneswar: Day 3 of the Make in Odisha Conclave 2022, one of the largest flagship investor summits in the country, by the Government of Odisha in association with FICCI, witnessed an interesting panel discussion during the sectoral session on the ‘Growth of Odia Film Industry’.
The panelists were Hemant Sharma, Principal Secretary, Industries Department, Sachin R Jadhav Director-cum-Additional Secretary, Odisha-Tourism Department, K Basi Reddy Chairman & Managing Director of Digiquest, Himansu Sekhar Khatua, Director, educationist, and journalist, Satyabrata Tripathi Orissa Film Development Corporation Ltd (OFDC) chairman, Shaji N Karun one of the prominent film directors of Indian cinema, and also the actors of Odia cine industry.
Satyabrata Tripathi, Chairman, OFDC, welcomed over 150 dignitaries and shared the State’s vision and focus to become the leading destination for Indian filmmakers.
Sachin R Jadhav, Director-cum-Additional Secretary, Department of Tourism, Government of Odisha said, “Film is a supreme craft of story-telling. If you search for 10 stories in Odisha it will give you 10 million stories”.
He also highlighted how tourism and film locations were the character of films. The Tourism sector is now focusing on attracting national and prominent filmmakers to Odisha.
He stated that currently, the State government was more focused on infrastructure development of the Odia Film industry. Odisha is a land full of ancient temples, national parks as well as reservoirs, he added.
The Government of Odisha was determined to give logistics support like accommodation, transportation and provide elite facilities, he added.
He said the Government of Odisha had invested 3,000 crore in the tourism sector to enhance filmmakers to come to Odisha. He also said Odisha has stepped into another terrain that the country had never witnessed before.
Shaji N Karun, Indian film director, and cinematographer said, “Odisha has a very bright future for creative art because of the support of the state government, as well as supportive bureaucrats. Cinema by itself is a discovery of science. Cinema belongs to everybody.”
He also shed light on the internet revolution and how it directly impacts filmmakers. He highlighted the fact that as film directors it was their responsibility to create the right creative content so that it would be accepted by all.
“We should be more focused on script writing. The basic ingredient of a good movie is human emotion,” he added.
