Rasgulla is a syrupy dessert popular in the eastern part of South Asia. It is made from ball-shaped dumplings of chhena dough, cooked in light sugar syrup. This is done until the syrup permeates the dumplings.
Eastern India is a region of India consisting of the Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal and also the union territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The region roughly corresponds to the historical region of Magadha from which it inherits its various Eastern Indo-Aryan languages.
Bijaya Jena (also known as Dolly Jena or Bijoya Jena, born 16 August in Cuttack, Odisha, is an Indian actor, film director and producer. She won the Indian National Film Award for the Odia language film Tara.
Ranjan Ghosh is a Bengali filmmaker based out of Kolkata, India. He had risen to prominence with the release of Aparna Sen's Bengali feature film Iti Mrinalini, by becoming the first and the only screenwriter, the acclaimed actor-director had collaborated with in her illustrious career till date. With this film, Ghosh had made his screenwriting debut. He made his directorial debut in 2014 with the critically acclaimed Hrid Majharey, a Bengali feature film starring Abir Chatterjee and Raima Sen. Inspired by certain iconic plays of William Shakespeare, it was the first film in the Bengali language based on the works of the Bard and was presented as a tribute on his 450th Birth Anniversary. His second film Rongberonger Korhi was an anthology of four short films woven around the theme of money and its relationship with human beings. It featured National Award-winning actor Rituparna Sengupta, veteran cine star Chiranjeet Chakraborty, critically acclaimed actors Ritwick Chakraborty, Soham Chakraborty, Kharaj Mukherjee, Arunima Ghosh, Arjun Chakrabarty and others. It became a widely acclaimed film on release in 2018, before doing the festival rounds in Dubai, Dhaka, London, and nationally at Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Pune and Hyderabad. In 2019, Ghosh released his third feature film, the hugely successful Ahaa Re featuring Bangladeshi actor Arifin Shuvoo, Rituparna Sengupta, Amrita Chattopadhyay, Paran Bandopadhyay, Deepankar De, Shakuntala Barua, Bangladeshi Cinema film actor Alamgir in a special appearance as a restaurant owner. The film made it to a coveted list of 25 all-time great Asian films about food, compiled by international film web magazine Asian Movie Pulse. Ghosh's fourth feature film Mahishasur Marddini - A Night to Remember featuring his muse Rituparna Sengupta along with Saswata Chatterjee, Parambrata Chattopadhyay and a bunch of young theatre actors, released in 2022 and is touted as his boldest work till date in which he experiments with form and style, combining the elements of theatre and cinema. The film was screened at the Film and Television Institute of India, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Jamia Millia Islamia, University of Hyderabad, English and Foreign Languages University, University of Kerala, SNDT Women's University, Pondicherry University, IIT Bombay, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Kolkata and Tata Institute of Social Sciences. The Indian People's Theatre Association, Kollam District Committee, Kerala, screened the film in August 2023. Earlier, it became the first Indian feature film to screen at any theatre festival anywhere in India when it played at the 21st Habitat Theatre Festival, 2022, organized by the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi.
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.
Nila Madhab Panda is an Indian film producer and director. Panda has directed and produced over 70 films, documentaries, and shorts based on social issues, such as climate change, child labor, education, water issues, sanitation and other developmental issues in India. Many of his films are based on his own experiences. He has won several awards and received critical acclaim for his films which have been described as "entertaining yet socially relevant."
Bijukumar Damodaran, known mononymously as Dr. Biju, is an Indian homoeopathic doctor turned film director and screenwriter. He is best known for films such as Saira (2005), Veettilekkulla Vazhi (2010), Akasathinte Niram (2012), Perariyathavar (2013), Valiya Chirakulla Pakshikal (2016), Sound of Silence (2017), Painting Life (2018) and Veyilmarangal (2019).
Premendra Mazumder is a film -critic, -author, -curator, -consultant, -society-activist, -festival-organizer, and -festival-consultant. He has participated in several round-table discussions, conducted workshops, delivered lectures, and presented papers on various topics at national and international conferences.
Kamaleswar Mukherjee, M.B.B.S. is an Indian film director, actor, and physician known for his work in Bengali-language films. Films directed by him include Chander Pahar (2013), Meghe Dhaka Tara (2013), Amazon Obhijaan (2017) Cockpit (2017).
Kanyaka Talkies is a 2013 Indian Malayalam-language film co-written and directed by K R Manoj in his feature directorial debut. It is based on a story by P. V. Shajikumar.
Sabyasachi Mishra is an Indian actor known for his work in Odia Cinema. He is referred to as "Superstar of Ollywood". Pagala Premi was his first movie, for which he earned an Odisha State Film Awards for Best Actor. Sabyasachi got his second state award for Emiti Bi Prema Hue. He won the Filmfare Awards East as best actor for Mu Eka Tumara in 2013.
Biswanath Rath is an Indian film director, screenwriter, editor and producer. His films have received a total of 503 recognition/awards in various International Film Festivals across the globe. He is the first Odia filmmaker to achieve the milestone of winning 500 film festival accolades which includes 118 awards. He is the founder of production company BnR Films LLP.
Capital I is a 2015 Odia language independent feature film written and directed by Amartya Bhattacharyya. This film, tagged as an existential psychodrama, is the first independent feature film of Odisha. The film is produced by Susant Misra and Swastik Choudhury. This film is shot on a shoe-string budget without any film industry involvement. This film marks the feature film debut of Amartya Bhattacharyya as a writer, director, cinematographer and editor. All actors in this film are non-professional actors, and all of them make their feature film debut in ‘Capital I'. Kisaloy Roy makes his debut as a music director, and so does Amrita Chowdhury as a Choreographer.
Tulasi Apa is a 2017 first Odia biographical film, produced by Anupam Patnaik and directed by Amiya Patnaik. The film depicts the life of Tulasi Munda, an educator and social activist from Keonjhar, Odisha. The film was released on 19 May 2017.
Khyanikaa: The Lost Idea is a 2017 Odia language independent feature film written and directed by Amartya Bhattacharyya. The film won the state award for Best Editing at the 29th Odisha State Film Awards which was awarded to the filmmaker Amartya Bhattacharyya, who was also the editor of the film.
Runanubandha - The HE without HIM is a 2018 Bengali language independent feature film written and directed by Amartya Bhattacharyya. The film premiered at the International competition section at the 24h Kolkata International Film Festival.
Lochani Bag is an Indian actor who works mainly in the Odia film industry, "Ollywood". She has acted in films such as Aadim Vichar, Pahada ra Luha, Sala Budha and Odisha's first biopic film Tulasi Apa.
Barsha Patnaik is an Indian actress, born in Paradip, Odisha. She works in Odia cinema industry. Her debut film was Tulasi Apa. Debut film earned her success as she was awarded Best actress in 27th Odisha State Film Awards presented by the Government of Odisha.
Adieu Godard is a 2021 Odia language independent drama film written and directed by Amartya Bhattacharyya. The film world premiered at the 43rd Moscow International Film Festival 2021. In India, the film got officially selected at festivals like IFFK (Kerala), KIFF (Kolkata), Bengaluru (BIFFES), Pune (PIFF) etc. Adieu Godard also won Best Film Award in the Indian Languages competition at the 27th Kolkata International Film Festival 2022 and the 'Third Best Indian Cinema Award' at the 13th Bengaluru International Film Festival 2022.
Arindam Roy is an actor who works predominantly in Odia cinema apart from a few Bengali films.
