Khyanikaa – The Lost Idea is representing Odia cinema at the 2nd FFSI National Film Festivalwith the 08 Films of 08 Languages in 08 Cities and 08 Towns, organized by Federation of Film Societies of India – FFSI.
The Festival will open at Nandan, Kolkata on 18-21 Sept. 2018 with Aditya Kripalani’s Tikli and Laxmi Bomb (Hindi), Nagesh Bhosle’s Nati Khel (Marathi), Amartya Bhattacharyya’s Khyanikaa – The Lost Idea (Odia), Bijukumar Damodaran’s Sound Of Silence (Pahari/Tibetan), Paba
The film Khyanikaa had earlier made its mark at 12 prestigious international film festivals across 8 countries. It was the only Odia film at the prestigious Indian Panorama section at 48th International Film Festival of India, Goa last year. The film was highly praised at festivals in Canada, UK, Russia, Hungary and other countries. The film had also won an award at the 5th Noida International Film Festival earlier this year.
The film also received an overwhelming response from film lovers of Bhubaneswar when it released at INOX a couple of months back. From professors to painters, doctors to students, everyone had a lot to say about the film.
About the Film
The film is a fantasy driven tale of two men, a poet and a painter, claiming possession over the same Idea, in a rural village portrayed as a wonderland. Idea is personified as a beautiful young lady, free of all bondage.The two men try to justify their claim over their Idea through their forms of art.
Unable to settle the conflict, the two men approach ‘Fate’, personified as a big fat man of authority, to judge their claims. They soon realize that Idea is no one’s possession and it isn’t wise to rely on ‘Fate’ for a judgement. They decide to bury their ‘Fate’, and settle the matter in peace. Idea, portrayed as a free spirit, gets impressed by a kid who resides in an alternate world of fantasy, and decides to venture into the new creative world.The real world, with all its materialistic obsessions, rigid notions and prejudices, loses the Idea forever.
The 89 mins long feature film produced under the independent banner of Swastik Arthouse and directed by Amartya Bhattacharyya features Amrita Chowdhury as Idea, Susant Misra and Swastik Choudhury as the aspiring painters and poets. Choudhury Bikash Das plays a mad man, while Hrushikesh Bhoi (Kansha in Dhanuyatra) plays ‘Fate’. Anu Choudhury appears as a guest performer. The film also involves some native villagers in its cast, who were trained to act on the location itself. The music is composed by Kisaloy Roy.
The film, being an independent film, is like a home-made piece of art where we haven’t even used a post-production studio. From color grading to sound mixing, everything was done by the director Amartya himself on his home desktop. The film was shot with a DSLR camera and without any industry resources or equipment. It has been shot in and around the peripheries of Bhubaneswar and Puri.