Romancing the Silver Screen

Versatile actor Jatin Bora carved a niche in Assam’s film industry as a super hero. His movies beginning with Hiya Diya Niyain the milleniumfollowed by Nayak, Kanyadaan, Daag, BidhaataAgnisakhi, Kadambari, Suren SurorPutek, Baandhon were crowd pullers setting the box office a jingle. His directorial venture, Ratnakar where he has also acted, did equally well in movie theatres.

Jatin Bora is looking forward to the release of his next dream production, a family drama, Raghav, which has been partly shot in Ramoji Film City, Hyderabad. Excerpts from an interview:

Please tell us something about your childhood, your family and educational background

I amoriginally from Nagaon. My parents were Gakul Chandra Bora and Premolata Bora ofKacholukhowa village, Nagaon.We are four siblings, an elder sister, a younger sister and younger brother.

I married Navanita Sharma, who is a singer and actress, in 2002 and have two children, daughter Astha and son Drishan.

My first school was MarikalangPrathamik Vidyalaya and high school was Dawson Higher Secondary and MultiPurpose School. I studied at the Nagaon GNDG Commerce College and later graduated from Nowgong College.

I am also a diploma holder in Fine Arts from the Kallol Art School in Nagaon and I learned music and a child an am a visharad in tabla. I have also trained in Assamese classical Sattriya dance under Rabin Chandra Das of Nagaon.

When did you first start acting in dramas?

From childhood I used to perform in the MainaParijats near our village and acted in several bhaonas and dramas during my childhood -- that was in the 1970s and early eighties.

My first drama was LakshminathBezbaroa’s drama,Mukti,as a child artiste in the 70’s.

I used to act in plays for various clubs like Rupranga, Kallol, Nabajyoti Sangha andRangmahalin Nagaon.

How did you come in front of the arc lights?

I was crazy to act in cinemas. It was an obsession, a passion. From schooldays I had acted in dramas and was drawn to cinemas. I still remember how we were beaten by policemen when we went to see the shooting of theAssamese movie, BohagorDuporiya at Nagaon. I was in high school, probably in class seven or eight at that time. That was the first time I saw the cine stars Biju Phukan, Nipon Goswami and Mridula Baruah. I was so drawn by the bright lights and soobsessed about wanting to shoot for amovie that I would cry my heart out at home. My family was into sports -- my father and uncle were good badminton players -- and my mother had done some acting, but there was no one with a background in films. My father, who was an employee in a bank, when he saw me in tears would sarcastically ask me whether he shouldset up a studio so that I could fulfil my desire to act.

When I had just stepped into College and was doing the rounds as a stage actor, I won the Best Actor award in a drama competition and this was published in the Assamese magazine,Rupkaar. Director Nip Baruah, who was the owner of Dharma Productions, saw that black and white photo of mine in the magazine and sent feelers that he wanted to cast me in his next movie. I was so thrilled that I threw a party for friends and my father also treated his friends to tea and snacks. I was taken the next day by an Ambassador car, but after Nip Baruah saw me I could make out that I did not make the cut as a hero of the silver screen. He told the photographer to take a couple of stills of me and sent me back by a night bus with the message that he would get back if required. I knewrejection when I saw it andnothingcame of it. I was so disappointed that when I used to cycle to places where I was acting in stage shows I used to look at and curse my shadow for not being hero material. I did not come to breaking point and a few years passed in this manner. My first foray into movies was a big failure.

It was while performing the soy angulia (six fingered) character in Bandhan, a play written by SanatBordoloi (late) and directed by BakulBordoloiat the Tezpur Drama festival, that directorAbdul Majid approached me backstage and asked me whether I would be interested in acting in a movie. I was not optimistic and thought that it would go the Dharma Productions way. However, Abdul Majid turned up at our house and gave me a concrete offer. I auditioned for the movie – at that time auditioning meant taking stills -- profiles, long and close shots -- and I passed muster. I enacted a role in Uttarkaal, my first Assamese movie in 1989. After debuting in this movie I thought I’d made it and that I would be swamped with offers but for four or five years nothing came my way, It was a very frustrating time. However, Uttarkaalhad been seen by Biju Phukan at the Nandan cinema hall at Calcutta and he sent Mrinal Kanti Das and Koushik Hazarika to me and gave me the offer of working in Deuta, a serial. At that time I was working in a number of sitcoms and Pabitra Kumar Deka, Editor of Rupkaar (now no more) had given me the nomenclature, Serial Konwarin an article in Saadhin.I was acting in almost all the sitcoms being aired then.I have performed inteleserials like Chandra Talukdar’s Namgharia, BirinaPaatorAnguthee, Jones Mahalia's Pratighat, SurangorMajere, and GhatPratighat

However, even if I was busy doing serials I did not have the means to rent a house in Guwahati. The first question asked by producers and directors was where I was putting up in the city. Those were my struggling days and my search was always in for relatives in Guwahati where I could stay for a few days for free.

In 1994 I joined Hengool theatre and next moved to Abahon. In the mobile theatre arena I met directors like and Munin Baruah and BhabenSaikia.BhabenSaikia sir signed me for a Hindi film,Kaalsandhya andMunin Baruah for Hiya Diya Niya. In Kaalsandhyawhich was sponsored by National Film DevelopmentCorporationmy co-stars were Ashish Vidyarthi and Debashree Roy were my co-stars. Munin Baruah’sHiya Diya Niya was my biggest break and the turning point in my career.

Tell us more about Hiya Diya Niya

As I said it was a turning point in my life. My first commercial break which became a blockbuster and people came to know me. Getting to essay a role in Munin Baruah’s films was a big thing back then. He always made multi starrers with big names. I was surprised on reading the script that I had a major role in the movie. It was at that time that Zubeen Garg had also offered me a role in his movie, Tumi MorMathu Mor. Both the characters were opposite, In Hiya Diya Niya I was a hero and in Tumi MorMathuMor, I was a villain. I was two shifts then for the first time. After Hiya Diya Niya , atime came when I was working three shifts, morning, afternoon and night. Almost all my movies -- most directed by Muni Baruah -- Nayak, Kanyadaan, Daag, Bidhaataand othersAgnisakhi, Kadambari, Suren SurorPutek, Baandhon, etc., became box office hits.

The three people who made a difference in my life are Biju Phukan, Abdul Majid and Munin Baruah tele-serial Deuta came at a time when I was about to give up on acting, next was Abdul Majid , who gave me my first break in films and ofcourse Munin Baruah.

In the three decades of your journeywill you please share anymemorable experience that you had

There is one interesting episode. I had joined Hengool theatre together with Adil Hussain. In fact we were roommates for one year. Both of us were unknown entities, especially in upper Assam. My teleserials in Doordarshan were not aired in upper Assam, so nobody knew me. Then came Hiya Diya Niya and a few more movies which game me name and fame. I then joined Ashirbad theatre in 2004-05, and we went to stage a few plays at Bokajan.There a group of people came up and surrounded me wanting to know whether I was Jatin Bora or his duplicate. They could not believe that the Jatin Bora of Hiya Diya Niyafame would come to Bokajanto perform on stage, and were suspicious of being duped.

Throughout my acting career I have been associated with mobile theatre or what is known as Bhramyaman theatre. I have also worked in Kohinoor Theatre, Bhagyadevitheatre, Itihas,theatre, Brindabontheatre Rajtilaktheatre andand with Theatre Surjya.

Tell us something about your struggles

It was an uphill task for me to reach where I am today. I have seen many ups and downs but it has strengthened me and made me the person I am today. As I said we were a middle class family subsisting on my father's salary as a clerk in a bank. He had to bring up four children.

The amount in my first movie was only Rs 200. The production team asked me to give them a traet, so I asked my father for some money. When he heard that I had got only Rs 200 he asked me to go to a fair price shop owned by my uncle and buy whatever I could get with that amount and give the treat. I got only six bottles of pickles and something else and that was it.

What projects have you undertaken and what are your future plans

I always wanted to start a production house to make films and teleserials and together with my wife,Navanita we set up JB Production. This was the second one after Zubeen’s. Under this banner Navanita and I directed Abhijit Bhattacharya’s Ratnakar, which received a very good response from the audience and we also made a teleserial, Morisika, for Rang channel which had top TRP ratings.

At present I am working on another major film entitled Raghav which is in its post production stage and will most likely be released in October. It was my dream to shoot the scenes in Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad. For the project I have brought in experts in the technical fields like a fightmaster from Mumbai. There is Rajesh Kannan, who is the right hand of Rohit Shetty, for the sound Amrit Pritam and DebajitChangmai, and in editing PratimKhound, who had edited Ratnakar and Dr Bezbaruah, and for the music, Zubeen Garg. I have also used a costly camera known as phantom camera. This is a first in the Assam film industry and I hope others will also follow suit. Among the actors are Mridula Baruah, I hope this will be her comeback movie, Hiranya Deka, NishitaGoswami and andJibitesh Mazumdar, a talented newcomer. Raghav is a family movie.

Many present-dayfilm makers are festival oriented. Do you have any plans in making this kind of a film?

I also have a plan to make a festival oriented movie. There are many plots in Assam which can be made into one but I am yet to finalise the whole thing. In this regard I have also held discussions with Jahnu Barua. I worked in Jahnuda’s film Baandhon.

Have you noticed any change in the audience of today and yesterday

People are very receptive to watching Assamese movies even today. I have seen that Dr Bezbaruah and even a well made movie like Monjul Baruah’s Anur have drawn cinegoers to the movie theatres.. It is not that you need 100 crores to make a good movie. Even on a small budget very good films can be made. For Ratnakar I spent Rs 2 crore and for Raghav it is a bit more.

In the past five to 10 years have you noticed any change in the themes of Assamese movies?

The next generation is very talented, Their concept is clear, they work on good subjects, I trust they will do very well in direction and technicalities. In fact,I would like to work with the young technical people as there is a lot to learn from them.

There is a perception that if an Assamese movie is criticised by a critic then that is not showing your support for Assamese films. What is your take on this?

Not sentimentbut good products is what will help the industry to survive and sustain. Lack of criticism will not help in improvement of the films.

In Calcutta, South and in Odisha film industry, the people support regional films. This is what is needed in Assam as well. But for this to happen the audience will have to be given something that will make them remained glued to their seats.

If you give the industry uncritical support, the level of films will obviously go down.

What are the awards you have received?

I have won the Jyotirupa Joint Media Award for Excellence in Film Television and Music for Hiya Diya Niya, Nayak, Bidhata, Maa tumi Ananya and Suren SurorPutek. I have received theNatasuryaPhaniSarma Award, a government of Assam award for Juwe Pura Xun, theNE TV people's choice for Kadambari and Maa tumi Ananya, Prag Cine award "Best Actor" for Kadambari in 2005, Moonlight media award for Hiya Diya Niya, Nayak, Kanyadaan and Bidhata.

Do you think that the Assamese film industry lacks something like a Corporation, Board or Committee?

No, we have several forums like the Assam Film Society, NE Technicians Association, etc.

What advise would you like to give to the upcoming generation of filmmakers

They are very talented and there is no confusion regarding what they want to make and highlight. They should go ahead in whatever they are doing and work with sincerity and commitment.

As for me I would like to make a film for the international circuit and act as long as the audience wants me to.