Tributes and tears mark Zubeen’s curtain call

It was a movie opening like no other in Assam: 600 shows across 91 cinemas (including multiplexes), with the first show, on Friday morning, at4.25am.

- Utpal Parashar

‘And it was an opening like no other for an Assamese film: screenings in Delhi, Kolkata, ‘Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Benga-luru, Hyderabad, Kochi, Patna, Ranchi, Dhanbad, Darjeeling, Gangtok, Mysore, Vellore, Visa-khapatnam, Coimbatore, Deh-radun, Lucknow, Jaipur, Vapi (Gujarat), Indore, Cuttack, Bhubaneswar, Raniganj, Mal-dah, Siliguri, Agartala, Dhar-managar, Cooch Behar, Raipur and Nagpur.

The excitement, tinged with ever-present grief, was over the last film of singer-actor Zubeen Garg, Roi Roi Binale (Tears Keep Flowing), which released 42-days after his death in Singapore on September 19 at the age of 52. Since then, the state, and Assamese everywhere, have been grieving; Diwali came and went without registering itself in Assam; and an investigation is on to understand the circumstances around his untimely death.

It was raining across Assam, but the showers could not keep people away. Zubeen (as he is almost universally referred to in the state, by his first name only) had set October 31 as the release date and his family and the film's crew ensured they met the deadline. Most cinemas were turned into impromptu shrines for the singer, with photographs, garlands, and lamps outside; some cinemas even kep a seat vacant for him -- across shows.