A shot in Assam146;s darkness

8216;8216;This is no joke,8217;8217; says Nayan Prasad, actor and film critic. The awards have come after a long dry run. The last time Assamese films did so well or even better was in 1997. The booty then was seven awards, the highest ever in a year.

8216;8216;Filmmaking in Assam is difficult given the fact that there is virtually no scope of recovering your money,8217;8217; says Manju Bora whose first venture Baibhav three years ago had won much praise in festivals abroad. Her Akashitorar Kothare is the story of wronged women. 8216;8216;It8217;s a tale told a thousand times,8217;8217; she says.

The best film on environment8212;Juiye Pora Sone The Self Triumphs is a contemporary tale of an ordinary boy living in an Assam that8217;s facing the twin problems of Bangladeshi infiltration and annual floods.

Assamese cinema has come a long way since 1926 when Jyotiprasad Agarwalla made his first film Joymati. The film was shot in a makeshift studio at a tea factory but was released only later in 1935. The film culture slowly grew in the state. Guwahati was also where under the initiative of Bhupen Hazarika, the first government studio in India was built in the early 1970s.

About a dozen films are made in Assam every year, most of them formula fare. 8216;8216;It is very encouraging that good films are being made in Assam again. More important is the fact that producers are coming out to support you despite the fact that there is very little scope to recover the expenses incurred,8217;8217; says director Bidyut Chakravarty, who had bagged the Indira Gandhi award for his film in 1997.

Assam, meanwhile, is enjoying its moment in fame. 8216;8216;For us, these awards are not just occasions to celebrate. They also inspire us to make more meaningful films,8217;8217; says Chakravarty.