Atal Bihari Panda


Atal Bihari Panda is an Indian actor, known for his works in Sambalpuri Cinema. He is regarded as one of the finest actors in Odisha and is the recipient of numerous awards, including two back-to-back Odisha State Film Awards for best actor. His debut in films, came at an age of 83 year is quite amazing for an actor. Before his debut as an actor in films, he had already written 60 plays.

Early works

He has acted over 100 plays apart from writing over 65 dramas in the Sambalpuri language. He has also worked as a playwright in six opera. Initially well known Director Sabyasachi Mohapatra approached him to write dialogue for the film Sala Budha. The director was looking for the Protagonist for that film but he could not find one so he approached Atal to play the lead role and Panda agreed.

Career

He made his debut in film 'Sala Budha' in lead role and the film was directed by Sabyasachi Mohapatra in 2013. He won the Best actor award for the film Sala Budha at Odisha State Film awards. In 2014, he again got the chance to work with the director Sabyasachi Mohapatra in the film "Aadim Vichar", which was a Sequel to "Sala Budha".
He appeared again in the lead role in the third installment of Sala Budha film series titled “Sala Budhar Badla” released on 17th January 2020.

Filmography

Awards