Bhubaneswar: A natural blockbuster, a shocking scuffle of celebrities on streets, tragic deaths and sextortion tales: take a look back at the stories that took the celebrity world of Odisha by storm in 2022.
1: ‘DAMaN’ Breathes New Lease Of Life In Odia Cinema
When everything seemed lost for the Odia film industry – more so post Covid pandemic – filmmaker Debi Prasad Lenka’s ‘DAMaN’ has breathed in a new lease of life into Ollywood.
Long starved of original content, cinemagoers are back in the theatre halls to watch the film that has been running houseful for the last one week across Odisha and outside. The concept, picturisation, direction and top-notch acting, makes this movie a natural blockbuster, a long-awaited one for the Odia film industry.
DAMaN helmed by popular actors Babushan and Dipanwit Dashmohapatra tells the story of a doctor employed in Malkangiri who goes out of his way to bring healthcare to tribals in interior and inaccessible pockets of the district. It has been made with a budget of nearly Rs 1 crore and currently has an IMDB rating of 9.7, the highest any Odia film has got on the platform so far.
2: ‘Pati, Patni Aur Woh’ Scuffle On Bbsr Streets, Video Goes Viral
People couldn’t believe their eyes when they saw Odia actors pulling each other’s hair in the middle of the street. The spectators were definitely baffled to witness the shocking and embarrassing incident involving Odia actor Babusan Mohanty, his wife, and co-actor Prakruti Mishra. They got into an ugly fight on a busy Bhubaneshwar street in July this year and the video went viral.
3: Nexus Between Archana Nag and Ollywood
Hailing from tribal-dominated Kalahandi district to setting up her empire by blackmailing biggies in Bhubaneswar, the journey of Archana Nag is nothing short of a Bollywood movie.
Archana along with her husband Jagabandhu Chand, blackmailed and extorted in crores from their victims. Their jaw-dropping bungalow, foreign dogs, horse, and high-end cars are enough proofs that the couple was living their dream with the money. Most of her victims were politicians, high-profile businessmen, government officials and even film producers and directors.
Nag had been arrested by the Commissionerate Police on October 6 on charges of sextortion and honey trapping. Her husband, Jagabandhu Chand was arrested on October 22 from his house in Bhubaneswar.
4: Jharana Das, Doyen Of Odia cinema, Passes Away
Noted actor Jharana Das (77), one of the finest actors of black and white film era, passed away at her residence in Cuttack on Dec 2, 2022. She had received the Jayadev Award from Odisha government for outstanding contributions to Odia film industry. People remember her performance in Odia films, theatre, radio drama and voice over art.
Her scintillating performance in Odia films including Amada Bata (1963), Malajanha (1965), Abhinetri (1965), Adina Megha (1970), Sri Jagannath (1979), Hisab Nikas (1982), and Pujaphula (1985) is a milestone in the history of Odia film.
5: End of an era, Veteran Odia actor Mihir Das dies
Veteran Odia actor Mihir Das breathed his last at a private hospital in Cuttack city on January 11, 2022. He was undergoing treatment for kidney-related ailments for about a month.
In his career spanning over three decades, Das won the Best Actor award from the state government for his performance in Laxmi Protima in 1998 and Pheria Mo Suna Bhauni in 2005. However, it was Pua Mora Bholashankar, which propelled him to stardom.
