Prantik Deka
'Xhoixobote Dhemalite' Re-Releases
Bidyut Kotoky's 'Xoixobote Dhemalite', which had received a limited release in Assam last year, has got re-released all over the State on February 8. Set in the violent period of the eighties, the film is about children growing up in violent places, witnessing brutality around them and how it affects them deeply, leaving an indelible mark on their growth.
The film stars Victor Banerjee, Nakul Vaid, Naved Aslam, Nipon Goswami, Nikumoni Barua and a bunch of young and energetic kids. It also marks the debut of actress and supermodel Dipannita Sharma in Assamese cinema. The film is about a generation which grew up during the turbulent 80s in the state.
'Xoixobote Dhemalite' has won several awards, including the Best Screenplay Award at the Treasure Coast International Film Festival in Florida where it received nominations in five categories. A month before that, it became the first Assamese film to be commercially released in the US. Besides, it has won three awards, including that of the Best Film in the Love International Film Festival, Los Angeles. Apart from these, the other achievements worth mentioning include its selection in the Indian Panorama, IFFI (Goa) and the Best Foreign Language Film, Hollywood CineFest, LA.
"We have been really appreciated and acclaimed in different parts of India and abroad. But the film is about our people. It really saddened me when we couldn't reach out to enough audience last time, due to circumstances beyond our control. So we decided for a re-release of the film and expect our audience to support and help us in taking this journey forward," said Bidyut Katoky.
The film is produced by 'India Stories', a Mumbai based production house and co-produced by Bidyut's 'Dhruv creative productions' and 'Kurmasana Kreates', a US based production house. Mukul Gogoi is the associate producer of the film. While the film was struggling for the completion fund, a Dubai based philanthropist Jani Viswanath came on board as an executive producer. She also pledged her earnings from the film back to Assam via her NGO - 'Healing Lives'.
Hemanta Sarma's 'To Let'
A familiar name in the field of cine-journalism, Hemanta Sarma is now making his directorial debut with a new Assamese film. Tackling a serious subject in nature, the story deals with the theme of secularism. Speaking about his film, Hemanta says - "The film focuses on a small but an important issue of our society. We live in a secular country. But how many people understand or believe in the very concept of secularism? There is one form of intolerance or discrimination or the other in every religion. There has been numerous incidents of religious violence in the country, which has disturbed its social fabric."
The film follows the story of a Muslim journalist, who has to undergo discrimination and prejudice based on his faith. The film's story, script and dialogue are also written by Hemanta Sarma. The film is produced by Utpal Bania, Managing Director of DOOGDOOGI – an Assamese jewellery company, under the banner of Focus Media. While the cinematography is done by Deepkamal Gogoi, music composed by Sudipta Nayan, the editing is executed by Manash Pratim. The various roles in 'To Let' are played by Kulendra Rai Choudhury, Naba Mahanta, Pratima Sarma and Minakshi Devi. As informed by the director, the film will be sent to various film festivals after its censoring. been made a scapegoat.
Kingshuk Moran : Sound Engineer From Assam Making Waves in Bollywood
'Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi' - the period drama revolving around the life of Rani Lakshmibai, one of the leading figures of the Indian Rebellion of 1857, and one who offered heroic resistance to the British Raj, was released to popular appeal in the country, recently. While people are talking about the movie, not many people know about the Assamese boy, Kinshuk Moran who has worked as the sound designer of the movie.
Hailing from Naharkatia, Kingshuk, who completed his schooling from Kendriya Vidyalaya, Sivasagar, has worked for more than 40-50 films as a Sound Editor and his work as a Sound Designer includes movies like 'Dangal', 'Bajirao Mastani', 'Padmavat', 'Uri: The Surgical Strike' and 'Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi'.
Kingshuk has been working a Sound Editor for the past 8 years. He currently has a web series called 'Made in Heaven' on hand which is about to be released soon. Although, he hasn't taken any formal training in terms of sound designing, he started his career assisting established people of the Hindi film industry.
His first film as a sound editor was 'Tanu Weds Manu Returns'. He has also worked in the Assamese film 'Dur', directed by Kangkan Rajkhowa.
Guwahati Girl To Perform At Theatre Festival In Nepal
The talented Kismat Bano is all set to enthrall the audience with her play 'Helen' at the prestigious Nepal International Film Festival, 2019.
Guwahati girl Kismat Bano's play found its place among the critically acclaimed plays by experienced directors from Italy, Denmark and Norway among other countries.
The play will be staged at the Nepal International Theatre Festival, 2019, organized in Kathmandu, Nepal, to be held from February 25. About ten critically acclaimed plays will be staged during the festival.
Kismat Bano, often referred as the stage prodigy, has got a mini-theatre hall built at her house in Dhirenpara in Guwahati to train neighborhood children.
The Nepal International Theatre Festival, 2019, is a celebration of art, culture, traditions in the form of theatre performances. The fest encourages medium of expressions like the Jatra, poetry and so on.
Interestingly, Kismat staged 'Helen', which is also her first directed play, in an UNESCO event at Dhaka, Bangladesh recently.
Helen centres around five main characters, and Kismat portrays the role of the protagonist Helen, who is born with critical ailments and gradually grows up into a visually impaired and differently abled girl.
Axl Hazarika Releases Controversial EDM Music Video
Axl Hazarika, an Assamese experimental artiste, who has been leading India on SoundCloud's Global Trance Top 10 Charts, has released his new music video, 'Neta Song.' The video is an attempt to troll corrupt politicians of our society.
The video is directed by Hazarika and has already gone viral on Facebook by becoming the first music video from Assam to get approximately 270 million views within 24 hours.
The song is from the EDM genre, which is big in the international scene right now. The lyrics of the song were compiled after an online contest was held on Instagram and Twitter and young people on the social platforms came up with random words for the song. This is the reason the song contains some unparliamentary words such as 'Ghanta' and 'Aalbaal' and more. The words were not censored in the internet version of the song after consultation from veteran filmmakers in Assam.
Hazarika is an experimental music artiste from the northeast India and has recently become the first and the only Indian artiste to rank in SoundCloud Top 10 Global Trance music charts & Billboard music charts. He is also credited with the first animation video – 'Hum Badal Gaye' from northeast India, which is officially certified and censored by the Central Board of Film Certification, and the first 3D animation video from Assam – 'The Blind Dog'.
The Assamese music video, 'Goru Bihu Song,' directed by Axl Hazarika has been selected to be screened at the 47th Sehsüchte, that happened from 25th until 29th April' 2018 at the Film University Babelsberg, Konrad Wolf, housed at Babelsberg Film Studio.