Manipur civil body bans film star Soma Laishram from films for 3 years

 IMPHAL: An organization in Manipur has banned famed actor Soma Laishram from acting in films and attending social functions for 3 years for taking appearing as a show stopper in a beauty pageant in Delhi despite a general appeal made by it to her to desist from partaking in such programmes when Manipur is “still burning”.

The decree by civil society group, Kangleipak Kanba Lup (KKL), sent shockwaves to the film fraternity of the strife-torn state. The Film Forum Manipur (FFM), the umbrella body of all film bodies of the state, expressed dissatisfaction over the KKL’s move and said it would act to bring a solution to it. Soma, who has acted in over 150 Manipuri films and bagged numerous awards, clarified that there were certain misjudgments over her participation at the New Delhi event on Saturday.

She had participated as a show stopper in a concluding programme of the North East Students’ Festival held at Talkatora Stadium where she passionately spoke on the unprecedented current turmoil in Manipur and used the platform to appeal for support from all for peace and normalcy in the state. “As a professional actor and a social influencer, it is my responsibility to communicate and speak up about the crisis in Manipur and I chose this platform,” the celebrity actor told the media on Tuesday.

“The event I participated in is a northeast festival hosted by My Home India, a non-profit organization, and the programme I took part in was a cultural programme celebrating the cultural heritage of the Northeast.”

A resident of the Kongeng Hajari Leikai in Imphal West district, she clarified that Saturday’s event was not a beauty or fashion show organized for fun.

“It was a cultural event where each state of the northeast like Nagaland, Mizoram, Assam, Arunachal etc was represented by their own chosen personalities. So from Manipur, it happened to be me. They invited me. I didn’t want to miss the opportunity,” Soma said.

KKL, in a statement on Monday, said that it had approached the FFM and the Film Actors Guild Manipur who then requested Soma not to take part in the Delhi beauty pageant. However, Soma “in full defiance of all such requests and in total disrespect to the Meitis who have died so far”, and thousands of people rendered homeless as many houses were burnt, participated in the event, the statement said.

However, contrary to the KKL’s statement that Soma chose to ignore the “advice” of the FFM and Cine Actors’ Guild Manipur (CAGM) to which she belongs, the heads of the film bodies said that when they were individually approached to discourage Soma from participating in the fashion parade considering the unprecedented human crisis confronting Manipur, it was too late to intervene as it was on the day of the show. (IANS)

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