The Mirage
(Maya Miriga)

The only fiction film that Nirad Mohapatra made for cinema, Maya Miriga (1983) returns to the 3 Continents (1984 and 1988). We knew that its making was the result of a stubborn and almost miraculous adventure. As was its restoration, which after more than three years of relentless work brought back to life a masterpiece rooted in the Odisha culture. The slow but irreversible disintegration of the ties between the members of a middle-class family living under the same roof, Maya Miriga unfolds its tragic strength without even raising the tone and, capturing an infinite palette of muted tensions by giving the proper place to everything and to all characters, it is remains averse to passing any judgement. JB