Koraput: The Department of Journalism & Mass Communication, Central University of Odisha organised a webinar on ‘Indian Cinema-Ray & After’ on Thursday.
The webinar started with an opening note by Dr. Sourav Gupta, Assistant Professor, DJMC & Convener of the webinar. Dr. Gupta at the onset thanked Prof I Ramabrahmam, Vice Chancellor, CUO for his support to the idea of the event. He explained Satyajit Ray’s importance in world cinema by quoting greats like Kurosawa and that the purpose of the webinar was to discourse the impact of Oscar awardee film director Satyajit Ray’s filmmaking on Indian Cinema on the occasion of his centenary. Dr Pradosh Rath, Head I/c, DJMC welcomed the guests and resource persons of the webinar by delivering the welcome note.
Prof S K Palita, Dean, SBCNR, inaugurated the Webinar and Prof P Durga Prasad, Visiting Professor of Sociology delivered the inaugural note. Both of them emphasised on the role of cinema as an important medium of communication & Satyajit Ray as an important body of work. They congratulated the Dep’t of J & MC for organizing the webinar. Mr. Bhupendra Kointhala, Director, Film & Television Institute of India, Pune, delivered the inaugural address titled, ‘Democratizing Film Education’ and spoke about how Ray’s cinema shaped the entire approach of Indian filmmaking. He described the various ways the FTII has been opening up film education to the masses through short-term & online courses. Prof Akshay Rout, Visiting Professor, DJMC chaired the inaugural session and compared creative genius of Ray with the works of William Shakespeare.
Shri Ashoke Viswanathan, National Awardee Film Maker & Dean, Satyajit Ray Film & Television Institute, Kolkata delivered the first talk of the technical session titled, ‘Elements of Narrative Disjunction in the Cinema of Satyajit Ray’. In his speech Shri Viswanathan underlined that Ray’s films were not only about telling stories rather it went beyond the original text. He substantiated his claim through a reading of Ray’s films like Charulata. The next speaker, Shri Gadadhar Puty, an eminent filmmaker from Odisha and an alumnus of FTII, Pune, described the impact of Ray’s filmmaking style on regional cinema with a focus on Odia cinema. His talk was titled, ‘Shines of Ray and our regional Indian cinema today. The technical session was chaired by Dr. Pradosh Rath, Head I/c, DJMC.
The talks were followed by an interactive session where students and faculty members placed their queries & observation. The interactive session was conducted by Dr. Sony Parhi, Faculty member of the DJMC. The webinar concluded with a formal vote of thanks by Mr. Sujit Kr Mohanty, Faculty, DJMC. The webinar was compeered by Mr. A T Sunny and Miss Mousami Jena, students of the DJMC.
The webinar was well attended by students, faculty members of the CUO, and also other educational institutions. Dr. A K Das, Registrar, Prof P K Jena, Visiting Professor, DJMC, Prof Mrinal Chatterjee, Head, IIMC, Dhenkanal, Mr. Shyamhari Chakra, eminent journalist, Mr. Biren Das, eminent Film Maker, Ms. Archana Kumari, Faculty, Central University of Jammu, Prof O P Bharati and Dr. Surabhi Biplove, Faculty, MGAHVV, Wardha, Dr. Phagunath Bhoi, PRO, CUO were among the notable present in the webinar.
