Hall of worry for Odia cinema: Experts blame government apathy

Just when Odia cinemas are being made with original stories to attract the attention of movie lovers again, the industry seems to be facing new challenges. The struggle, this time, is for screen space.

It has been revealed that as many as 40 cinema halls in Odisha have been closed down in the last 10 years. There are only 52 cinema halls including multiplexes in the State now.

Many old cinema halls across the State have been converted to Kalyan mandaps. Take the case of one of the oldest cinema halls in Odisha- Ravi Talkies. The hall has been converted into a marriage mandap. Ekamra cinema hall, which used to be chock-a-block with people during festival time, has also been converted into a marriage mandap.

As per cine experts, if the situation continues like this, cinema halls will be soon a thing of the past in the State.

“No love was left for Odia language. Hence, we were forced to close the cinema hall,” rued Ashok Mohapatra, owner of Ravi Talkies. 

Similar is the situation in Puri and Berhampur. Once, there were so many cinema halls in Puri and cine lovers were often buying tickets in black to watch Odia movies. However, all the cinema halls in Puri have now been closed down. Even famous cinema halls like Srikrushna, Janata and Laxmi Talkies are not functional anymore.

SSVT was the first cinema hall built in Berhampur in 1927. But it has been closed down for more than a decade now. Many more new cinema halls have also come up in the Silk City. However, those are no longer in existence now due to a lack of government support. 

According to cinema experts, though people have a lot of interest in watching Odia movies, they are not able to pursue their passion due to the lack of enough cinema halls in the State.

“There was a time when the most number of halls in Odisha were in Berhampur. However, the number of halls has now considerably reduced in the town,” said a cine lover.

“Though we still get the same love from the cine lovers, the number of halls has reduced a lot. There are places where people want to watch Odia cinema. However, they are not able to do it due to the absence of cinema halls. Odia cinemas are not able to do good business due to lack of cinema halls,” said Ollywood actor Sabyasachi Mishra.

As per the information provided by Industries Minister Sampad Swain in the State Assembly, there are 52 cinema halls in Odisha now including 30 multiplexes and 22 single-screen halls. It means most of the districts don’t have halls anymore. Whereas neighbouring Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal have more than 2,800 and 400 cinema halls respectively.

According to cinema experts, government indifference is one of the main reasons behind the closure of many cinema halls in Odisha. After the 1999 Super Cyclone, lack of government support and Covid-19 hit Odisha cinema hard.

“Common people can’t watch cinemas in multiplexes. Single-screen theatres should come up in every block. People should watch movies in halls, and then only the Odia cinema industry will be able to flourish. Moreover, without help from the government, the Odia cinema industry can’t flourish,” said producer Pradyumna Lenka.