31st Odisha State Film Awards presented today; 8th State Tele Film Awards tomorrow

Bhubaneswar: Odia Language, Literature and Culture department today presented the 31st Odisha State Film Awards for the year 2019 to different recipients in about 26 categories including an award that was jointly given to two persons, in a special event held at Utkal Mandap located on the premises of Utkal Sangeet Mahavidyalay here.

The 8th Odisha State Tele Film Awards for 2019 will be given to 19 recipients on Tuesday.

A spokesperson of the event organiser Odisha Film Development Corporation (OFDC) said that the State award for best educational and children’s films category was given to ‘Baji – The Boat Boy’.

Actor Rohit Raj was conferred the award in the special jury category for the film Kotie Re Gotie Mana’.

Chandrasekhar Sharma was given the award in the best sound recording category for ‘Sala Budhara Badla’.

Kalinga Keshari Nayak was given the best Art Director award for his film ‘Kalira Atita’.

Mayank was conferred the best child artiste award for the film ‘Ranga Barasiba Tupuru Tapuru’.

Banita Nag was awarded as the best supporting actress for her film ‘Jharan’. Similarly, Babby Mishra was awarded as the best supporting actor for his film ‘Babu Bhaijaan’.

It is pertinent to mention, the Orissa High Court last month nullified the 31st Odisha State Film Awards for 2019, which was declared by the State government in November 2021.

The High Court had directed the authorities concerned to prepare a fresh list in accordance with the rules that govern the procedure and asked to publish the fresh nominations list within a month by excluding two movies namely ‘Khusi’ and ‘Golmal Love’, which are not original works. The movies must not be considered for any award category in the fresh list, the court had maintained.

Odia film director Bobby Islam had challenged the legality of the selection list on the grounds that it violated Odisha State Awards for Films Rules, 2010, after the selection list was published.