Bhubaneswar is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Odisha, located in the Khordha district. The region, especially the old town, was historically often depicted as Chakra Kshetra and Ekamra Kshetra. Bhubaneswar is dubbed the "Temple City", a nickname earned because of the 700 temples which once stood there. In contemporary times, it has emerged as an education hub and an attractive business destination.
Cuttack, is the former capital and the second largest city in the Indian state of Odisha. It is the headquarters of the Cuttack district. The name of the city is an anglicised form of the Odia and Sanskrit name Kataka which literally means The Fort, a reference to the ancient Barabati Fort around which the city initially developed. Cuttack is known as the Millennium City as well as the Silver City due to its history of 1000 years and famous silver filigree works. The Orissa High Court is located there. It is the commercial capital of Odisha which hosts many trading and business houses in and around the city. Cuttack is famous for its Durga Puja which is one of the most important festivals of Odisha. The city is categorised as a Tier-II city as per the ranking system used by Government of India.
Cuttack district is one of the 30 districts of Odisha state in India. It is located in the coastal part of the state and its administrative headquarters are located in the city of Cuttack. As of 2011 Census, after Ganjam, it is the second most populous district of Odisha, with a population of 2,624,470. The name is an anglicized form of Kataka or Katak meaning Fort – referring to the Barabati Fort. The district is bisected by the river Mahanadi and its numerous distributaries and occupies a large portion of the river's delta. It is bounded by the Angul, Dhenkanal, Nayagarh and Khurda districts to the west while its southern and eastern boundaries touch Puri, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara and Jajpur districts.
Nirad Narayan Mohapatra was an Indian film director. Mohapatra was born in the Indian state of Odisha. He directed the Oriya language film Maya Miriga, television soap operas and documentaries.
Bāli Jātrā, pronounced[balidʒat̪ɾa], is the major Boita Bandana festival held at Cuttack on Kartik Purnima and lasts for 7 days or more. It is considered to be one of Asia's largest open trade fair. The festival is held in Odisha, in the city of Cuttack at Gadagadia Ghata of the Mahanadi river, to mark the day when ancient Sadhabas would set sail to distant lands of Bali, as well as Java, Sumatra, Borneo, and Sri Lanka for trade and cultural expansion. To commemorate this, the festival is celebrated every year from the day of Kartika Purnima according to the Odia calendar.
The Odia cinema, colloquially known as Ollywood, is the Odia language Indian film industry, based in Bhubaneshwar and Cuttack in Odisha, India. The name Ollywood is a portmanteau of the words Odia and Hollywood.
Prashanta Nanda is an Indian director, actor and politician from the state of Odisha. He is currently a Member of Parliament at Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian Parliament, for Odisha. He had worked predominantly in Odia film industry but also worked in Bengali film industry and Hindi film industry extensively. He was also a former minister in Odisha state.
Sarat Pujari was an Indian actor, director and producer in Odia film industry (Ollywood). He was originally from Jhaduapada, Sambalpur.
Steven Woloshen is a Canadian film animator and a pioneer of drawn-on-film animation.
Odia diaspora are people of Odia ancestry residing outside the Indian state of Odisha.
Devdas Chhotray is an Indian Odia author, administrator and academician. He was the first vice-chancellor of Ravenshaw University, Cuttack, Odisha. His work consists of poetry, short stories, lyrics, musicals and screenplays. Chhotray's father Gopal Chhotray, a recipient of Padma, Central Sahitya Akademi and Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, was an architect of modern Odia theatre.
Swayamsiddha is a 2010 Odia film directed by Sudhanshu Sahu with a screenplay and dialogue by Dilip Choudhury, produced by Prabhat Ranjan Mallik, and starring Siddhanta Mahapatra and Yukta Inderlal Mookhey. The film focuses on the implications for the young mass adopting to Maoist insurgency and their sustained alienation from the mainstream as a result. Geo-strategic importance of changing the minds of young people adopting terrorism through love and affection. The film traces the crisis from social trauma to unfair state system encouraging Mao-Naxal insurgency in Odisha.
Mohammad Mohsin called popularly as Mohsin was an Indian actor, director and producer. In his movie career spanning more than 30 years across Bollywood, Odisha and West Bengal, he has acted and directed in many commercially successful movies. Mohsin started a revolution in commercial Odia movies and connected with the pulse of his audience. His movies ranged from social drama to action packed crime thrillers. Mohsin made his first Bollywood debut in the movie Naiyya, in which he played the character of Karim. Naiyya was produced and distributed by Rajshri Productions, which was a remake of Odia movie Shesha Shrabana, in which Mohsin played the character of a boat maker.
Gloria Mohanty was an Indian theatre, television and film actress who worked in the Odia film industry. She was honoured with the State's highest honour for contribution to Odia cinema – the Jayadeb Puraskar in 1994 and Odisha Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1992. Cultural organisation Srjan awarded her Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra Award for the year of 2011. and Life Time Achievement Award from Cultural organisation Ghungur in 2012.
Satyabrata Tripathy is an Indian actor, radio personality, VJ and television presenter, who mostly works on Odia language films and television shows. He is appointed as the chairman of Odisha Film Development Corporation by the Government of Odisha in 2018. In his career, he has worked is Script, Lyrics, Dialogue & Direction. He has also scripted and directed many Docu-Dramas, and telefilms.
In 2019 the state government decided to provide subsidy up to Rs 2.5 crore to filmmakers of English, Hindi or other language films that would promote Odisha and its culture, heritage and tourist destinations in their films. The decision was taken to encourage the filmmakers to shoot in Odisha. To enhance the ease of filming and facilitate the development of related institutions, the Odisha State Film Policy, 2019 proposes to implement a single window approval process for shooting of films in the state. It is proposed that all proposals for film cities, multiplexes and cinema halls will be facilitated through the government's single window for investors facilitation and tracking portal.
Himansu Sekhar Khatua is an Indian director, educationalist, and journalist. He directed the national film award winning movies Sunya Swaroop and Kathantara in 1996 and 2005 respectively. He was the previous managing director from the house of Kalinga Media and Entertainment Private Limited (KMEPL) and also the Ex-CMD of Kalinga TV, a news channel and Knews Odisha, a digital platform.
Iti Rani Samanta is an Indian columnist, journalist and film producer. She won the Odisha State Film Awards in 2014 for Best Story Writer. She is also the editor of the monthly family magazine The Kadambini and the children’s magazine The Kunikatha.
Pupul Bhuyan is an Indian actress, television presenter, and model who has mostly appeared in Odia films, telefilms, daily shops, and reality shows. She started her film career in Ollywood in 2013 through the 1st Odia 3D film Kaunri Kanya along with Kavya Keeran. In 2018, she was crowned as the winner at Opera Mrs. India Global pageant.
