Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi inaugurates the revamped Kalinga Studio in Odisha, featuring advanced production facilities and a cinematic archive
OdishaPlus Bureau
Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Monday inaugurated the revamped Kalinga Studio, equipped with modern production and post-production facilities to meet the changing needs of the Odia film industry.
Majhi also unveiled a dedicated archive and museum at the studio to preserve Odisha’s cinematic heritage, including old films, posters, photographs and historical documents. He also launched the new official portal of the Odisha Film Development Corporation (OFDC).
The Chief Minister said the upgraded studio would reduce the need for Odia filmmakers to travel outside the state for technical and post-production work. More advanced facilities would be added to the complex in the coming days, he said.
The modernised studio has been developed as a self-contained film ecosystem, with indoor shooting floors, a snow house, a chroma floor, a technology zone, sound recording and dubbing facilities, and editing and post-production infrastructure.
Recalling the history of Odia cinema, Majhi said films such as Maa, Amadabat and Matira Manisha in the 1950s and 1960s established a strong relationship between cinema and Odia literature.
He urged young filmmakers to draw on Odisha’s original stories, folklore, history and cultural heritage while creating films. He said young people from the state were already making their mark in acting, direction, cinematography, animation, sound design and digital storytelling.
Industries, Skill Development and Technical Education Minister Sampad Chandra Swain said the upgraded facility offered infrastructure covering the entire production cycle. The film industry, he said, was not merely an entertainment sector but a major economic ecosystem with the potential to generate employment and economic activity.
BJP MLAs Babu Singh, Sidhant Mohapatra and Akash Das Nayak, Industries Department Additional Chief Secretary Hemant Sharma, and Kalinga Studio Managing Director Surendra Kumar Panda were present at the event.