By Bobo Khuraijam
ITANAGAR, February 18: The second day of the Film, Northeast film festival held in Indira Gandhi Park, Itanagar was marked by a splendid show of rich cinematic talents of the region.
Noted Assamese filmmaker, Jhanu Baruah, as an important part of the festival presented an engaging lecture in the Directors Speak programme. The lecture was attended by a host of filmmakers, artists and film enthusiast.
Baruah in his lecture observed that the greatest stimulus for a filmmaker is that one has to think afresh every time a film is made, adding that a creative person should find his or her own way of expressing what they want say to the audience.
On a quarry from a filmmaker regarding the ways to get into big industry like Bollywood, he said, “why should you bother so much about the word like ‘Bollywood’ or ‘Mainstream’. The word ‘Bollywood’ itself is a shameless imitation of Hollywood. One should not be shy of his identity and must be proud of it. So in film as well, create your own identity”.
Citing the fable of a crow putting on feathers of a peacock to be more beautiful like the latter, Baruah said “India is a vast country, there are varied interest groups trying to push through what they want. We must be aware of it and should not fall into their trappings. This is true as far as the art of cinema is also concern”.
Continuing that technology in cinema has an important part to play, Baruah maintained that though he had achieved training on film making from Films & Television Institute of India, Pune, “my course in film making had begun much before I join the institution and is continuing even after graduating from it. It is a constant learning process”, he added. “95 per cent is the filmmaker’s conviction and ideology that matter, the remaining 5 per cent are the craft and technology”, he stressed.
It may be mentioned that Baruah, besides being film maker, he has been endorsing the idea of a separate time zone for the North eastern States from the rest of the country. Speaking to this reporter, on the side line of the lecture, he said there has been some positive development on the matter of separate time zone, adding that the Union Cabinet might take a discussion on it, which may take some time. “Awareness campaign among the people of the region on the matter is of primary importance and I am still talking to different individual and groups on it”, he said.
As part of the screenings, Dr A Bimol Akoijam’s ‘Karigi Kiruni Nungshiradi’ Manipuri feature film was screened today in the evening. Aribam Syam’s ‘Imagi Ningthem’ and ‘Monpas of Arunachal’ were also screened in the retrospective Magic Mirror section.