Exit of a cinematic giant

Bhubaneswar: Winning a national film award is an achievement in itself. And if someone wins as many as eight of them, that too on the trot, it undoubtedly is no mean feat. No doubt, it is for nothing that filmmaker Manmohan Mohapatra was known as the ‘Father of new wave cinema’ in Odisha. A pall of gloom descended on the Odia film industry after his demise last week. Sunday POST takes a look at Manmohan’s works and some significant events of his life.

Born November 10, 1951 in Khurda, Manmohan secured a diploma in film direction from FTII, Pune and went on to become the doyens of Orissa cinema. In the mid 1970s a new generation of artistes graduated from the institute who later went on to give a facelift of Hindi cinema. Prominent among them were Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri, Shabana Azmi and Mithun Chakraborty. Manmohan, a member of an illustrious batch that boasted names like Tom Altar, Shakti Kapoor, Benjamin Gilani, Rakesh Vedi, Kundan Shah, Saeed Mirza, Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Ranjeeta, Zarina Wahab, Rita Bhaduri and Rama Vij. Manmohan announced his arrival to the Odia film industry with Seeta Rati in 1976, which was in the making for five years. However, that didn’t dent his confidence. The film went to win critical acclaim and then there was no looking back for Manmohan. Over the next 11 years, the FTII alumnus went on to win eight National Awards, a feat which is yet to be matched. Much like Satyajit Ray, Manmohan’s movies revolved around socio-economic condition of the lower middleclass and were devoid of melodrama. However, art critics still believe that his talent and ability remained largely untapped.

Creative genius

Manmohan was an institution in him and his body of work is an attestation to that. His significance to Odia film industry is summed up well by prominent poet and art critic Kedar Mishra. Expressing anguish over the lack of recognition given to Mahapatra, he says, “We, the so-called art lovers, don’t to know how to appreciate a piece of art. In fact, we don’t have the qualification to understand the cinematic language Manmohan Mahapatra used. Otherwise, he would have been the greatest celebrity in the state and his movies such as Seeta Rati, Klanta Aparanha and Majhi Pahacha would have been the most-watched films in the state.”

Kedar says that Manmohan succeed in making films with original content at a time when most filmmakers take recourse to poor remakes of south Indian films that are over the top and high on melodrama. Parallel cinema, for many in Odisha, are films that do the festival rounds, win awards but are rejected by the mass. “His brand of cinema would centre on the struggles, conflicts and pain of the middleclass. It is pity that society couldn’t love that genre. We did have a powerhouse of talent with us but neither could we identify it in him, nor did we give him opportunity to showcase his skills,” he laments.

Humility personified

Manmohan was a hard taskmaster when it came to his profession but there have been numerous instances while filmmaking when we also got a glimpse of his humane side.

“How many filmmakers are there in the industry who can go for a ‘pack up’ if a crew member falls ill or halt shoot because someone in distress wanted to use his camera?” asks popular filmmaker Sushanta Mani.

“Once I was doing the subtitling for one of his films that was to be sent to a festival in Europe. Unfortunately, I met with an accident and got a couple of stitches on my forehead. However, I went to his studio the next day to complete the assignment. He shouted at me and asked me to go home and take rest. ‘It will not be the end of the world if one of my films can’t make it to a festival but your health is important,’ he had said. Not too many could have said that,” says Sushant about Manmohan’s generosity.

Sushant started his career as an editor and graduated into a top-notch director. “He used to encourage young directors, look into the rushes of the learners like me with immense interest and always guided us,” says Sushant.

Pradeep Mohanty, director of an ad agency, is also considered the first ad filmmaker from Odisha. Recalling Manmohan’s generosity, he says, “When I started making commercials on 35 mm camera in Odisha, he would lend me his camera for a couple of days by adjusting time from his shooting schedule. He was aware of my budget and didn’t want me to shell out money to hire cameras from Madras. He was that generous in his professional life but would never talk about it.”

Son of the soil

His relationship with Bollywood dates back to the mid 1970s when he did is three-year diploma in direction from FTII-Pune. During those days he met actor Mithun Chakraborty.  The two were hostel mates from where they became lifelong friends. Much like Mithun, Mrinal Sen was a father figure to him and remained in touch forever. So much so, that Mithun once asked him to shift base to Mumbai to explore more opportunities. A couple of years back, during a conversation with this correspondent, he admitted that and said, “I can’t work anywhere else. I have my roots here. Although the filmmaking scene is not that great here, I don’t have any desire to work outside my state. Mithun had asked me to move to Mumbai in 2006 when content-driven cinema slowly was getting accepted by the mass. But I am happy here.”

This is one of the reasons when he made a Hindi film with Rahul Bose, Nandita Das, Dia Mirza, Raima Sen in 2015, it was shot primarily in Cuttack, Bhubaneswar and Puri.

Avoiding limelight

He used to weave magic behind the camera but always shied away from coming in front of the camera. He consciously avoided limelight. Although has won eight National Awards and numerous state awards, he never went in person to received those awards.

Everything for cinemas

Cinema was his life. He once said that a creative person can’t take retirement and he survives with the wish of making a film than is better than his previous work. Even at the hospital bed he would talk about cinema.

Unfulfilled dreams

Manmohan had planned to make five more films and the subjects were ready. However, fate had something else in store. He used to frequent hospitals but his heart was in films. He would narrate the plot even on hospital bed, says ace cinematographer Dilip Ray who has worked with him in a number of films. “‘I have thought of making five more movies after which I will get peace,’ he told me,” says dialogue writer Zakir Khan Sudarshan.

Remembering a legend

I am deeply saddened to learn about the passing away of eminent filmmaker and director Manmohan Mohapatra. His contribution to the film industry will always be remembered.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik

Odia film industry has lost one of its vital organs with his demise. The eight national awards that he won, speak volume on his achievements.

Jyotiprakash Panigrahi, Minister of Odia language and culture

It is with the advent of Manmohan Mahapatra that Odia cinema might be said to have reached its apogee. His unsentimental humanism is reminiscent of Ray, while the artistic brilliance of his camera work, the long takes and the tantalizingly gentle pace of his films remin one of the great Keralan poet of the cinema, Aravindan – Noted film critic John W Hood

I regret that I couldn’t work him although I always wanted to do a film with him. His films were his identity. I don’t think the void created by his demise can be filled anytime soon.

Bijay Mohanty, veteran actor

The state has lost a learned filmmaker and a great soul. Manmohan along with Nirad (national award winning filmmaker Nirad Mohapatra) was my batch mate. Nirad left us a few years back. Now, we have lost a great thinker and visionary and have become poorer.

Pranab Das, friend and national award winning film director

A man of few words, his work always spoke louder than his words… a filmmaker with so many great works of art… legend of Odia cinema [sic]

Nila Madhab Panda, award winning film director

I was associated with him for almost 40 years. I worked as an art director and make-up artist in most of his films. An era ended with his demise. Now, I realise that his last film Bhija Matira Swarga will also become my last film as an artist.

Banchhanidhi Patnaik, senior art director and make-up artist

I have acted in all his films from the day I met him. He was uncompromising in his works. He never allowed his actors to stray from the characters. I have evolved as an actor working under him. Difficult to imagine he is not here.

Jayaswami, heroine in a number of Manmohan Mahapatra’s films

A gem of a person, Manmohan Babu was a rarity in the fraternity and example for all of us. I was not only got inspired, but had received a lot of assistance from him in the past. He will be missed dearly.

Pradyumna Lenka, Actor and Producer

He was like an elder brother to me. He played a big role in furthering my career as an artiste. With his demise, Odia cinema has lost one of its strongest pillars. I have worked with him in nearly 40 telefilms. He had solutions for every problem. It is definitely the end of an era. The state is stripped of its cultural crown

Antaryami Panda, Actor and art director

In fact I am speechless. Don’t know what to say to narrate his loss. I have learnt a lot from him as an editor and director.

Gadadhar Putty, Editor and national award winning film director

Manmohan’s master pieces that fetched National awards

Awards galore

Manmohan Mahapatra was honoured with Jaydev Award for his contribution to the growth and development of Odia Cinema in 2001 and conferred an honourary doctorate degree by Utkal University of Culture in 2017. Finally, he was selected to get a Padma Shri (posthumously), the fourth highest civilian award for his contribution to the cinema.

Trivia

Sheeta Rati was the first full length feature film directed by Manmohan Mahapatra after he secured a diploma in direction from FTII(Pune) and also the first Odia film to be screened in foreign film festivals

Manmohan’s credential as a documentary filmmaker

Popular telefilms directed by Manmohan

Bijay Mandal, OP