Omkar Hota, the real life hero of the recently released Odia movie ‘DAMaN’

Bhubaneswar: Odia movie ‘DAMaN’ has been released in 43 theatres across Odisha on Friday. Odia cine lovers who have seen the first day show are all praises of the movie.

Directed by Devi Prasad Lenka and Vishal Mourya, the movie features Babushan Mohanty and Dipanwit Dashmohapatra as lead characters.

The movie depicts the real-life story of a doctor who goes beyond his duty line to help his patients to get better treatment.

Dr. Omkar Hota, the real-life hero of the movie was in news in 2017 when a picture of him carrying a woman patient on a cot who was bleeding profusely after delivery went viral on social media. He carried the woman along with his assistance to the nearest PHC for better treatment after covering over 10 Km.

The same year he was conferred with the first Utkalmani Gopobandhu Das award by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for his exemplary commitment to walking the extra mile to bring health facilities to people in remote villages of Malkangiri.

Expressing his happiness over the movie, Dr. Hota said, “I won’t say that the movie is completely based on me, but it has aptly depicted my journey as a doctor in rural areas. When I saw the trailer of the movie, I was happy and emotional seeing everything in the reel which I had experienced during those days.”

He attended the first-day show in Bhubaneswar and was excited to see the movie on the big screen. “When I saw the movie today, it reflected my whole journey, how I used to travel on buses sitting on top, walking miles to reach villages, and the struggle of convincing tribal people to take medical treatment for malaria, and snake bites instead of following blind beliefs,” he shared. 

He praised the makers of ‘DAMaN’ for beautifully narrating and visualising everything in the movie.

Dr. Hota has cleared the Odisha Public Service Commission and is currently posted as Medical Officer in Titlagarh Subdivision, Bolangir.

Stating that in the last five years things have changed in the region of Malkangiri, he said, “Lots of things have changed in last five years. When I went there, there were lots of blind beliefs. Tribal people are conservative and they used to refuse to take medical help for any medical emergency. Initially naxal people used to interrupt my work but later started supporting me.”

To win the trust of the tribal people, Dr. Hota started mingling with the tribal communities, mostly the traditional healers as they could refer patients to him. “It worked and gradually lots of patients started taking help for the treatment, the traditional healers would ask the villagers to seek medical help instead of visiting them,” he shared.

“It was a herculean task, but thankfully we have succeeded in changing the mindset of the people and now changes are visible. Now they go for institutional delivery and the cases of Malaria have also decreased in the regions compared to earlier.”

Overwhelmed with the changes in the region, he considers this as the biggest achievement of his life. “We still have miles to go as a lot needs to be done,” he added.

During his recent visit to the region, he could see the excitement among the tribal people who also requested him to return to their land and treat everyone.