STORY OF ACCEPTANCE OF UNEXPECTED REALITIES

A young boy crosses over into Myanmar, sparked by his mother’s hurt and his curiosity about his missing father.

- PRASANTA MAZUMDAR

Boong—the coming-of-age Manipuri language film—is a heartening story of quest, discovery, learning and acceptance of the unexpected realities of life.

Produced by Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani’s Excel Entertainment, Boong recently won the Best Children and Family Film category feature in this year’s British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA). It is the first Indian film ever to win an award in this category.

Women in Manipur have historically held a high status and are renowned for their collective strength. Expectedly, there is a woman behind Boong’s success — filmmaker Lakshmipriya Devi, who made her directorial debut with this film.

The award was like a breath of fresh air in a state ravaged by the Meitei-Kuki violent ethnic conflict that claimed over 260 lives and displaced an estimated 60,000 others. For Manipuri cinema and Indian filmmaking, it was a watershed moment.

Speaking at the award ceremony last Sunday, Lakshmipriya made an emotional appeal for peace in Manipur. “The walk up till here felt like the last few steps to reach a summit of a mountain we never knew we were climbing in the first place. Thank you to the jury members and BAFTA for giving our very small film such big love — a film that is rooted in a place which is very troubled, very much ignored and very underrepresented in India. It’s a homage to my homeland, Manipur,” Lakshmipriya said.