Hello Arsi wins 65th National Film Award as best Odia feature film

Director Sambit Mohanty’s ‘Hello Arsi’ won the National Award 2018 as the best Odia feature film. It has won three awards at the 65th National Film Awards that were announced in New Delhi today.

The film got the honours for Best Odia Film, Best Dialogue and also a Special Mention. Commenting on the film, veteran director and chairman of the jury Shekhar Kapur said, “If I try to make that film, I will fail”.

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Unfortunately, the director of the film, Sambit Mohanty, is no more. The film was earlier named as ‘Pakhilagna’. Hello Arsi is produced by Ajay Rautray. The cast of the film includes Prakruti Mishra, Partha Sarathi Ray and Priyambada Ray.

The director and producer of the film will receive the prestigious Rajat Kamal and Rs 1 lakh each. Prakruti, who plays the protagonist said,”I am totally overwhelmed and numb. A National Award is a great achievement for me. I have worked really hard for this and it is a beautiful film.”

An excited Partha said, “I am very happy that our hard work has got the recognition. A few days back, eminent filmmaker Manmohan Mohapatra had praised my work in the movie.”

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik also took to Twitter to congratulate the team.