Restored by Film Heritage Foundation, ‘Maya Miriga’ will be shown at the Il Cinema Ritrovato festival in Bologna, Italy

A movie that was made with great difficulty, lay forgotten in a warehouse for years, and was found in poor condition – Maya Miriga by renowned Odia director Nirad Mohapatra is destined to be a case study in courses about film preservation.

The 1984 production was restored by the Film Heritage Foundation after a three-year effort. Maya Miriga (Mirage) will be premiered at Il Cinema Ritrovato (June 24-30), the festival in Bologna, Italy, which showcases newly restored classics. For Mohapatra’s family as well as FHF founder Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, Maya Miriga’s resurrection is nothing short of miraculous. The back stories about Maya Miriga are as dramatic as the film itself is quiet. Mohapatra’s screenplay captures the gradual changes that cause a joint family to implode. Three generations live in a rambling house in Puri. “Here we are, so many and with so many demands,” a character says.

The eldest son and his wife, who are expecting a child, have come to resent the pressure of educating four more siblings. When one of the children becomes an Indian Administrative Service officer, material conditions improve but the bonds fray. The restlessness is most vividly expressed in the competing ambitions of the women, especially the household’s eldest daughter-in-law. Made in the realist tradition of the Indian New Wave movement, Maya Miriga explores its themes subtly, without being judgmental. The cast is largely non-professional, with the filmmaker’s brother, future NDTV journalist Sampad Mahapatra, playing the IAS officer. The beauty of the film is that it is timeless. Everyone can relate to it.”

Mohapatra had directed a few documentaries before embarking on his fiction project. With barely any money at his disposal, the Film and Television Institute of India alumnus made Maya Miriga with 16mm film cobbled together from leftover stock at processing laboratories.

Production on Maya Miriga dragged out for nearly a year. The movie is dedicated to the brilliant production designer Bansi Chandragupta, who had worked extensively with Satyajit Ray. Chandragupta was all set to work on the film when he died suddenly during a trip to New York in 1981. After Maya Miriga, Mohapatra continued to make documentaries. He also lectured widely on cinema and served on the juries of several film festivals. But he never directed another feature. The one that he did make largely disappeared from view.