Odia film ‘Hello Arsi’ bags National Award

BHUBANESWAR:ODIA film, Hello Arsi, directed by late Sambit Mohanty has been selected as Best Odia Film at the 65th National Film Award. This was announced by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting in New Delhi on Friday.

The 90-minute film, starring Prakruti Mishra and Partha Sarathi Ray, has also earned Mohanty the National Award for best dialogue. Prakruti, who plays the lead in the film, has bagged the Special Mention Award for her character ‘Arsi’.The film has been produced by Ajay Routray.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik congratulated the team of ‘Hello Arsi’ for the success while filmmaker and director of the jury panel of National Film Awards, Sekhar Kapur heaped praises on the filmmaker while announcing the awards on Friday. “If I try to make that film, I will fail,” he said.Shot in Rourkela for 13 days, ‘Hello Arsi’ is a metaphorical movie based on the interactions between two characters. It begins and ends with a car journey. While Prakruti plays the role of a girl who gets into prostitution after her family loses its land and house to industrialisation in the 80s, Partha’s character in the film is unnamed.

 “It’s a platonic love story where two people are trying to understand each other’s mind and find love. I have no name in the film and my character is not established,” said Partha, who had signed another movie with Mohanty, who passed away soon after filming ‘Hello Arsi’.

Prakruti said she has been fortunate to have worked with Mohanty, who was not only well-read but also strongly believed in making good cinema. The actors said the National Awards are a tribute to the filmmaker.The director (posthumously) and producer of the film will get the Rajat Kamal and `1 lakh each and Prakruti would be given a certificate at New Delhi by President of India on May 3.