Bhubaneswar: The 57th anniversary of Odisha’s oldest monthly cine magazine Banichitra was celebrated with grandeur at Rabindra Mandap here on Wednesday.
The festival, titled “Banichitra: Celebrating Odisha’s Excellence in Cinema, Art, Literature, Culture, Theatre, Dance, Music, and Social Service – 2025”, honoured prominent personalities across various fields.
Renowned theatre personality Ananta Mahapatra was conferred with the prestigious Parikshita Jena Banichitra Lifetime Achievement Award 2025. The event was graced by notable guests including veteran actor Prashanta Nanda, noted poet and lyricist Dr. Rabinarayan Senapati (IAS), Dr Iti Samanta (Editor, Kadambini) and PPL’s Corporate Affairs Officer Sudhiranjan Mishra.
Banichitra Editor Bhaskar Jena introduced the dignitaries and the awardees.
The event witnessed ‘Karma’ bagging the ‘best film’ award, Anupam Pattnaik receiving the ‘best director’ award for the film ‘Karma’ and Ardhendu Sundar Sahu and Debajani Debhuria winning the ‘best actor’ and ‘best actress’ awards for their films ‘Villain’ and ‘Bhagia Bharija’ respectively.
Here is the complete list:
Best Film (Basant Nayak Memorial Award 2025): Karma (Anupam Pattnaik / Barsha Pattnaik)
Best Artistic Film (Dr. Bandana Tripathy Memorial Award 2025): Aparahnara Surjya (Ajay Mohanty)
Most Popular Producer: Ramesh Barik (Boss)
Best Newcomer Producers: Kaushik Dash & Ram Pattnaik (Jajabara-2)
Energetic Producer of the Year: Pritam Sahu (Chandrabanshi/Durga)
Best Director: Anupam Pattnaik (Karma)
Best Directors (Jury): Girish Mahanti (Khoka Bhai Tuma Painee) & Mrutyunjaya Sahu (Bhagia Bharija)
Best Popular Director: Raja D. (Dasham)
Best Story (Annapurna Khilar Memorial Award 2025): Ajay Mahapatra (Vote)
Best Screenplay/Dialogues (Narayan Chandra Ray Mohapatra Memorial Award 2025): Priyabrata Panda (I Love You-2)
Best Actor: Ardhendu Sundar Sahu (Villain)
Best Actress: Debajani Debhuria (Bhagia Bharija)
Best Actor (Jury): Harihar Mahapatra (Bhagia Bharija)
Best Actresses (Jury): Bhumika Dash (Operation 12/17) & Poonam Mishra (Durga)
Best Popular Actor & Actress: Abhishek Giri (Ashram) & Suryamayee Mahapatra (Ashram)
Best Debut Actor & Actress: Aditya Mahapatra (I Love You-2) & Nilakshi Patra (Dasham)
Best character actor and actress: Sushil Mishra (Kuhudi) and Sweta Acharya (Ashram)
Best Supporting Actor & Actress: Akash Hota (Dasham) & Upasana Mahanti (Khoka Bhai Tuma Painee)
Best Comedian: Shantu (Shanti Apartment) (Shatru)
Best Villain & Villainess: Babi Mishra (Bhagia Bharija) & Ushashi Mishra (Villain)
Best Music Director: Ashish Pradhan (Karma)
Best Male & Female Singer: Humane Sagar (Karma) & Sohini Mishra (Ashram)
Best Lyricist: Bapu Goswami (Ashram)
Best Choreographer: Amit Nayak (Pabar)
Best Cameraman: Deepak Ghadei (I Love You-2)
Best Editor: Rajesh Dash (Operation 12/17)
Best Film Journalist (Rabi Swain Memorial Award 2025): Haraprasad Mahapatra
As part of the celebration, 13 individuals excelling in various fields like literature, performing arts, music, dance, social service, and cinema were felicitated with special recognitions.
These personalities were Kalandi Charan Bhanja, Nirupama Samantaray, Dr. Deepak Ranjan Nayak, Kshamanidhi Bhoi, Guruprasad Mishra, Sushree Sangeeta Kumar, Annada Prasad Ray, Om Abhijñan Sahu, Nrusinghananda Mahapatra, Sasmita Bhuyan, Manoj Kumar Bhuyan, Eng. Alok Samarth and Namrata Thapa.
The event was meticulously anchored by Kamal Kiran, Anusaya Sahu, and Gudi, while Shubham Events led by Bikramaditya Jena and Dinesh Pradhan managed the overall coordination.
