 |
| 'Aranya Rodan' movie artwork |
Screenplay & Direction: Biplab Roy Choudhury
Story: Satakadi Hota
Art: Ranjan Parida
Cinematography: Raju Mishra
Audiography: Nagen Barik, Sanjay Pathak
Editing: Biplab Roy Choudhury
Music: Shantanu Mohapatra
Lyrics: Laxman Marandi
Singer: Sarojini Hembrum
Cast: Lalatendu Rath, Priyambada Ray, Sarat Pujari, Rai Charan Das, Ramdas Munoru and others
Genre: Social, Drama
Awards:
- Odisha State Film Awards - Best Story: Satakadi Hota
- Odisha State Film Awards - Best Cinematography: Raju Mishra
- National Film Awards - Best Regional Film: Odia (Silver Lotus)
Plot: A woman in an interior tribal village in Odisha is raped to death by local MLA and his henchmen. The husband of the raped victim murders the MLA and jailed. In a bid to uncover the truth behind the hushed down crime, Kalyani, a journalist visits the village. She reports the truth to her editor, who, afraid of political implications, refuses to publish the same without concrete proof. The journalist visits the village again. She takes charge of the only child of the rape victim.
The local mahajan and his henchmen commit yet another ghastly crime in the area, while harvesting illegally the crops, raised painstakingly by the tribal villagers on fallow lands. This time, it is mass killing and gang-raping of several tribal women. These women are banished from the village per tribal system and they undergo prescribed penance rituals. Kalyani reports the matter to her Editor, but the same is drastically distorted again, attributing the crime to terrorists.
Kalyani's own married life had on the rocks for a long time and now she receives the court judgement granting her husband the divorce sought by him some time earlier. The poor orphaned tribal child is still looking for a mother. For the journalist and the suffering tribal, it all remains Aranya Rodan, a cry in the wilderness.
Reference: 41st National Film Awards
