Bhubaneswar is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Odisha. The region, especially the old town, was historically often depicted as 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 in Odia 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 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. Cuttack is also the birthplace of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. 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.
The Odia (ଓଡ଼ିଆ), formerly spelled Oriya, is an Indo-Aryan ethnic group native to the Indian state of Odisha who speak Odia language. They constitute a majority in the eastern coastal state, with significant minority populations in neighboring Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and West Bengal.
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.
The Odia film industry, 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.
Sarat Pujari was an Indian actor, director and producer in Odia film industry (Ollywood). He was originally from Jhaduapada, Sambalpur.
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.
Sabyasachi Mohapatra is an Indian film director, writer, and producer in Odia cinema. He owns a production house named Mohapatra Movie Magic.
Swayamsiddha is a 2010 Oriya 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 Orissa.
Babushaan is an Indian actor and playback singer who predominantly works in Odia movies. He debuted in Ollywood through Romeo - The Lover Boy in 2009 directed by Hara Patnaik.
Akshay Kumar Parija is an Indian film maker known for his depictions of Odia culture and Odissi dance in his films. Originally a banker, he currently lives in Dubai.
Mohammad Mohsin called popularly as Mohsin was an Odia 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 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 work 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.
