Top Odisha filmmaker Nirad Mahapatra no more

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Feb 19:

Eminent filmmaker from Odisha Nirad Mahapatra passed away at a Mumbai hospital this morning.

He was 67.

Mahapatra had developed complications since undergoing a surgery for suspected cancer at the Fortis Hiranandani Hospital in Navi Mumbai on January 14.

Family sources suspect negligence on the part of the hospital led to his death.

Mahapatra had undergone a second surgery on Feb 8 to arrest the infection caused during the first.
He had shown some signs of improvement since then but began sinking last night with his blood pressure falling drastically. Attempts to revive him continued through the night but failed in the end.

The end came at 6 AM today.

His sons Sidharth and Sandeep and his wife were at the bedside when Mahapatra breathed his last.

He will be cremated in Mumbai today after his daughter Mita arrives from Hyderabad, younger brother Sampad told OST.

Mahapatra, an alumnus of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune, had shot into international fame with his very first film “Maya Miriga” in 1984 which won a Rajat Kamal at the National Film Awards before going on to win a special jury award at the Cannes Film Festival.

Though he never made another feature film, he made several exceptional documentaries and won many awards.

He was in the Board of Directors of FTII and was a mentor to aspiring filmmakers.