Bijaya Jena

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Infobox actor
name = Bijaya Jena


imagesize = 100px
caption = Dolly Jena (Bijaya Jena)
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birthdate = August 16
location = flagicon|India Cuttack, Orissa, India
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notable role = "Jaga Balia"
academyawards =
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Bijaya Jena (also known as Dolly Jena or Bijoya Jena) (born August 16 in Cuttack, Orissa) is an Indian actor, film director and producer.

Early years

Jena is the youngest of 3 children, born into a family of academicians and aristocrats. Her mother came from a feudal Zamindar (aristocrats) background and her father, the late B.C.Jena was a Civil Engineer by profession and after his retirement learned homeopathy and became a practising homoeopath. He also became the President of the Nigamanand Ashram, Cuttack.

In her teens, Jena expressed her intention to join a course in Acting. In spite of stiff opposition, she was firm in her decision and she enrolled in the Film Institute of India for a Diploma Course in Film Acting.

Acting career

Jena became an actress in the Oriya film industry and soon won the State Award for Best Actress for her performance in "Jaga Balia".

She went on to work in a number of Hindi and Oriya feature films, television serials and plays, of which "Hakim Babu" (Oriya Film) received the National award for the Best Oriya Film.

She has also acted in Ismail Merchant's British Film, "The Deceivers", directed by Nicholas Meyer.

Jena has always been attracted to spiritualism and the mystical. She participated in a Science and Religion Conference - the International Transpersonal Association Conference whose focus was on the amalgamation between science and spiritualism. Here, she interacted with well known personalities in the field of science and religion. She also did a course in EST by Warner Erhard.

Jena was on the Governing Council of the Film & TV Institute of India from 1992-95 and on the National Feature Film Awards Jury in 1993.

Jena had entered the Indian Film Industry in the 1980s, when Industry was going through a transition and the New Wave Cinema or Serious Cinema (or Art Cinema) which had flourished through the 50s and 60s (under the aegis of Satyajit Ray and Mrinal Sen and Shyam Benegal) was floundering and dying in the 80s. So, she decided to make her own films.

In 1992, Jena made her directorial debut with the Oriya feature film, "Tara".

In 1997, she scripted, directed and produced her second film, "Abhaas" (English: "Prologue"). Both the films participated in festivals abroad and received critical acclaim.

In 2007, She was on the International Jury of "Fajr International Film Festival"
* [http://www.fajrfestival.ir/ Fajr International Film Festival website link]

Directing career

"Tara"

Jena co-scripted, directed and produced "Tara", her first feature film in the Oriya language in 1992.

"Tara" was based on a short story by Bimal Dutt (also the main script-writer of the film), a highly respected and prolific writer of the country. It was her directorial debut and she played the title role in the film.

"Tara" was completed in a "less than shoe-string" budget of approximately US $ 20,000, borrowed from family and National and State Government Agencies.

The film has received the National Award for the Best Oriya Film 1992 and the President of the jury, a renowned film maker, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, in his speech, singled out Jena's name as one of the promising future directors of the country and Jena also received critical acclaim for her performance in the title character.

The film "Tara" has competed in the Festival International du Cinema Au Feminin, Marseilles 1992 and participated in the Cairo International Film Festival 1992.

"Abhaas"

"Abhaas" is Bijaya's second feature film (in the Hindi language), which she scripted, directed and produced and played an important role in it.

The film was made in 1996 with a modest budget of US $60,000.

"Abhaas" had the honour of having the Hungarian maestro, Istvàn Gaál as the Script Advisor.

The film participated in the
* Festival International du Film de la Rochelle, France, 1997,
* Penang Film Festival, Malaysia (Competition Section), 1997.
* Cairo International Film Festival (Competition Section), 1997.

It was also invited to the Montreal World Film Festival in Cinema of the World Category, 1997 and the International Film Festival in Sochi, Russia (the film could not participate in both Montreal and Sochi due to technical reasons).

Forthcoming projects

In 1997, Jena gave birth to a girl, Lopamudra, and took a break from film-making to raise her child. In this period, she developed a few scripts.

"Danapani" (English: "The Survivor") is her first script based on an award winning Oriya novella. It was approved by the National Film Development Corporation but is stuck in the pre-production stage due to lack of funds.

"Goan Sonata" is another script based on a tale of unrequited love between a British writer and a Goan woman. The project is under pre-production with internationally well known actors and excellent technical crew members from Europe. The language of the film is English.

Acting credits

* "Abhaas" (Prologue) (1997) (Hindi film)
* "Tara" (1992) (Oriya Film)
* "The Deceivers" (1988) (English Film)
* "Jantar Mantar" (1988) (TV Episodes)
* "Param Veer Chakra" (1988) (TV Episode)
* "Vikram Vetaal" (1987) (TV Episode)
* "Uparaant" (1987) (Hindi Film)
* "Heera Neela" (1985) (Oriya Film)
* "Hakim Babu" (1984) (Oriya Film)
* "Holi" (1984) (Hindi film)
* "Jaga Balia" (1983) (Oriya Film)
* "Amma" (1983) (Hindi film)
* "Ashar Akash" (1983) (Oriya Film)
* "Razia Sultan" (1982) (Hindi film)
* "Naxalites" (1981) (Hindi film)