Mumbai/Bhubaneswar – 23rd June 2021 – On 19th June 2020, when globally acclaimed Documentary ‘Kotpad Weaving: The Story of a Race Against Time’ by award-winning filmmaker Biswanath Rath, premiered on Amazon Prime (US, UK, Canada and Australia), it became Odisha’s first documentary to feature on a major global OTT Platform. Exactly a year after, on 23rd June 2021, the documentary has premiered on MX Player making it Odisha’s first Documentary to feature on this widely popular OTT platform. MX player has over 280 Million Users globally, making it India’s leading OTT in terms of time spent by users, 2nd Highest in terms of no of users.
Biswanath’s English documentary ‘Kotpad Weaving: The Story of a Race Against Time’ has succeeded in creating awareness on Kotpad Handloom; the unique, internationally acclaimed, timeless tribal textile tradition from Koraput district (Odisha). Since its TV Telecast on 24th March 2018, the documentary has won 6 awards and 33 International Film Festival screenings. The film, produced by PSBT and executed by BnR Films, is a tribute to the rich textile tradition practiced by the Mirgan Community in Kotpad town since time hitherto unknown. Recently (in Jan 2021), the film won ‘Outstanding Award’ in MEIHODO International Youth Visual Media Festival, Japan and ‘Best Indian Film Award’ in Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Film Festival, Surat (Nov 2020). Through film festivals, the film has been screened and hugely appreciated in USA, UK, Italy, Greece, Australia and many other countries.
Times Internet-owned short video platform MX Player emerged as the leading video streaming app in India in 2020, in terms of time spent by users as per a report by global mobile app analytics firm App Annie. The report mentions that on average, each MX Player user spent 7.8 hours per month on the app, compared to 4.5 hours for Disney+Hotstar, 7.4 hours for Netflix and 4.4 hours for Amazon Prime Video. In March 2020, MX Player announced the international launch of its OTT service to select markets, including the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Bangladesh, Nepal etc. The platform currently has a streaming library of over 150,000 hours across 12 languages including English, Hindi etc. It is available on iOS, Android and the Web.
MX Player Links of Award-winning Films from BnR Films:
1) Documentary ‘Kotpad Weaving’ : Watch it on MX Player
2) Short Film ‘Ravaiyaa’ : Watch it on MX Player
3) Short Film ‘Desh Dosti Etc’ : Watch it on MX Player
4) Short Film ‘Kar Bhalaa’ : Watch it on MX Player
Along with Doc ‘Kotpad Weaving, acclaimed film company BnR Films’s three other Award-winning Short films ‘Ravaiyaa’, ‘Desh Dosti Etc’ and ‘Kar Bhalaa’ have also premiered on MX Player. Short film ‘Ravaiyaa’ (Hindi) is based on a true story of Indian migrant labourers and was made during the National lockdown 2020 via remote direction using smartphones. Till date, it has won 8 Awards and 21 Film Festival screenings. Short film ‘Desh Dosti Etc’ (Hindi), released just before General Elections 2019, is based on thousands of Facebook/Twitter/Whatsapp/Social Media-based keyboard wars which have cost millions of friendship. It had it’s World Premiere in the International Film Festival ‘The Lift-Off Sessions, UK’ (2019). Bi-lingual short film ‘Kar Bhalaa’ (Hindi-Tamil) is Biswanath/BnR Films’s debut short film. Made in 2013, the film is based on a true story in Chennai and has won 4 awards and 44 International Film Festival accolades till date. All these short films have been written-directed by Biswanath Rath.
Talking about the premiere on MX Player, Writer-Director Biswanath says, ‘’We are simply thrilled about this launch. MX Player is an International brand having over 280 million users. We feel honoured to have our award-winning documentary ‘Kotpad Weaving’ as well as 3 other award-winning short films on this platform. Film Festivals/Awards provide recognition to our films, but leading OTTs like MX Player provide the much-needed global reach to our content. This is surely a great moment of celebration for not just BnR Films, but for all our artists, technicians, producers and partners. On behalf of BnR Films, I dedicate this achievement to the extraordinary efforts of our financiers, Cast & Crew, because of whom these films have achieved so much in the past few years.
All our projects in last 9 years have been really exciting and rewarding. Each of these short films/documentary was an humble attempt from our side to tell a story with a social message and thereby create awareness in an entertaining/engaging way. We made each film with equal passion, irrespective of the time, space, financial and other constraints. Irrespective of budget or production value, we always believed in our concept/story/script/message/storytelling and their impact on audience. Probably, this approach has brought us this golden day. We didn’t even let Corona Pandemic hamper our spirit of filmmaking. All thanks to our wonderful fans, well-wishers, supporters and the media reporters/journalists who constantly keep encouraging, appreciating us for our works. We are sure this MX Player premiere of ‘Kotpad Weaving’ will create a new identity/recognition for Odisha and also inspire other filmmakers from Odisha/India to believe in their stories, believe in themselves.”
Biswanath Rath is the Founder & CEO of BnR Films LLP, a Pune-based Film Production company (co-founded by his wife Archana Rath) which produces Feature Films, Web Series, Documentaries, Short Films, Music Videos, Ad-Films, TV Commercials, Corporate Videos and Promotional Films. All the ad-films/short films/music videos produced by the company (written-directed by Biswanath) have received a total of 270 awards and recognitions in International film festival circuit. Out of total 270 International film festivals mentioned above, 242 festival screenings have taken place outside India (USA, UK, Italy, Paris, South America, Australia, Russia, Afghanistan and many other countries in Asia, Europe) where these films have represented India/Asia.
BnR Films aims to make films based on local content (Indian cultures, traditions, art and way of life) with global appeal. Presently the studio is working on its First Fiction Feature Film; a bilingual (Sambalpuri-Hindi) film based on few inspiring real stories of Western Odisha. The studio is also producing a Feature Documentary titled ‘Danda Naata’ on the rich, ancient, colourful, yet lesser-known Dance tradition from South Odisha.
