OdishaLIVE Bureau
Based on Nabakalebara of Lord Jagannath in the year 2015, the documentary film by Nilamadhab Panda is now available on digital media (OdishaLIVE YouTube & OdishaLIVE Facebook)
- The film is available in three languages Odia, Hindi and English
- Amitabh Bachchan has lent voice to the English narration of the documentary
- Hindi voice for the movie is given by OP Rathore
- Noted Odia actor Kuna Tripathy has rendered the Odia narration
- The full movie is available in all three languages on OdishaLIVE YouTube & Facebook channels
One who is born on this earth is destined to die one day. The Bhagawad Gita says “like man changes from old clothes to new, the soul transpires from an old body to a new one”. Likewise, at Shree Kshetra Puri, the deities Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra, Devi Subhadra and Lord Sudarshan leave their old body for new ones. The whole process of the deities changing into a new body is celebrated as a tradition and a grand event called Nabakalebara or rebirth. The Nabakalebara process is vividly captured on camera and presented in front of global audiences in the form of a documentary film titled ‘God’s Own People’.
In the year 2015, the Nabakalebara of Lord Jagannath took place. This Nabakalebara came after a period of nineteen years. On every Nabakalebara, Jagannath devotees from all around the globe along with regional and national media are abuzz with talks of the grand holy event. The 2015 Nabakalebara evoked unprecedented response from Jagannath devotees and followers. Owing to such large scale gathering of the lord and his followers. There was a strong need to document and preserve the whole event and present it for the masses. This task was accomplished by Nilamadhab Panda with the support of Dept. of Tourism, Govt. of Odisha.
The trilingual documentary film presented in Hindi, Odia and English can now be watched by audiences around the world on OdishaLIVE social channels. The three versions of the film are available on OdishaLIVE YouTube channel www.youtube.com/odishalive while the English version of the film voiced by Amitabh Bachchan can be watched by audiences on OdishaLIVE Facebook page www.facebook.com/odishalive.
A brief cut of the film was presented at a special screening held in Bhubaneswar in the year 2016. The preview screening was attended by Odisha Chief Minister Mr. Naveen Patnaik and the erstwhile Governor Mr. SC Jamir. Now the full movie of 83 minutes is available for the glocal viewers on the digital media.
Acclaimed Odia film producer Akshay Kumar Parija is the co-producer of the film ‘God’s Own People’ while the co-director for the movie is Shankhajeet De. The Hindi voice over for the movie has been done by OP Rathore while the Odia narration has been done by Kuna Tripathy. The directors of photography of the film are Indraneel Lahiri and Satyabrata Moharana.
‘God’s Own People’ was an important project for the Dept. of Tourism, Govt. of Odisha and the mentor for the project was Dr. Subhas Pani, IAS while the project consultancy, research and scripting was done by the erstwhile Chief Administrator of Shree Jagananth Temple Administration Puri, Dr. Arvind Padhee IAS.
The entire duration of the documentary film is 83 minutes and it was screened at the Cannes Film Festival as an independent category documentary film. Upon watching the film, a person can get all information regarding Jagannath culture and Nabakalebara rituals in totality.
For promoting the film “God’s Own People” on digital and social media platforms, the director of the film Nilamadhab Panda has expressed his gratitude to team OdishaLIVE. The digital media platform from Odisha will be instrumental in spreading word on Jagannath traditions and culture and ‘God’s Own People’ hopes the film’s Co-Producer Akshay Kumar Parija.
