14/02/2026
Hello,
After years of travel, conversations, waiting, filming, doubting and discovering — it is finally here. I am truly happy to invite you to the premiere screening of my latest documentary, Ramaleelas of Odisha (1 hr 15 mins).
🗓 3 PM, Saturday, 14 February 2026
📍 Samvet Auditorium, IGNCA, Janpath Building (near Western Court), New Delhi
The nearest metro stations (both walkable) are Patel Chowk (Yellow Line) and Janpath (Violet Line). The IGNCA campus also has ample parking if you prefer to drive.
This film is the third offering in my trilogy of feature-length documentaries on the cultural landscape of Odisha; a journey that has unfolded over the last fifteen years of my life. The first being ‘In the shadow of time’ that I directed on the Ravana Chhaya shadow puppetry tradition in central Odisha and the second one being ‘God’s own people’ that I co-directed on the Nabakalebara ritual of Sri Jagannath Temple at Puri. Each film has tested my patience, conviction, and endurance in different ways.
Ramaleela in Odisha is not just performance — it is atmosphere. If you travel across the state on summer nights, you encounter it everywhere: lyrical, musical, deeply local, yet rooted in a shared epic imagination. The aesthetics shift from village to village, town to town. The music changes. The costumes transform. The stage expands or contracts. Yet the devotion and collective energy remain constant. What keeps this tradition alive and evolving even today?
Filmed over several years, Ramaleelas of Odisha is my attempt to map this diversity — an ethnographic essay shaped through lived encounters; conversations at rehearsal spaces, long nights of performance, and quiet observations.
I would be delighted if you could join me for the premiere screening if you happen to be in Delhi that day. It would mean a lot to share this moment with you. I very much look forward to interacting with you after the screening.
Sharing the trailer below.
Warmly,
Shankhajeet De
