Bhubaneswar: Ace filmmaker, writer and director Manmohan Mahapatra passed away Monday afternoon at a private hospital here after a brief illness. He was 69. He was admitted to hospital two days back due to kidney ailment but his condition did not improve. As news about Manmohan’s demise spread many from the Odia film industry rushed to the hospital to pay their last respects.
An alumnus of FTII, Pune and a very close friend of well known award-winning actor Mithun Chakraborty, the Odia filmmaker is survived by his wife, three sons and a daughter.
Popular as Munna Bhai among the film fraternity, Manmohan ushered in a new era in Odia cinema with his new wave cinemas and went on set a record by winning eight consecutive National Awards for films like Seeta Rati, Nishidha Swapana, Majhi Pahacha, Neerab Jhada, Agni Beena and Bhinna Samaya among others. His films have also won many state awards.
Manmohan won his first National Award for Seeta Rati in 1982 which was also selected for the prestigious ‘Indian Panorama’ section of International Film Festival of India, New Delhi. Some of his films have been screened in the Indian Panorama section of other editions of IFFI and were shown abroad in festivals at USA, Italy and Germany. His last film Bhija Matira Swarga won six awards in 30th Odisha State Film Awards in 2018.
Manmohan also directed a few Hindi films. Bits and Pieces starring Nandita Das, Rahul Bose and Dia Mirza was one of them.
PNN