Bijoy Ghimire
Films from Assam had always succeeded in making their mark nationally and were duly recognized and awarded. These films which could garner critical acclaim mostly fall in the category of Independent and parallel movies. Filmmakers behind such movies like Jahnu Baruah, Santwana Bordoloi, the latest entrant off course being Rima Das to name a few could however woo or could attract only to a select group of people. Mainstream Assamese movies had mostly failed in the recent times due to an abysmal lack of quality in their story telling and presentation.
There is an enormous content available today in the digital space besides the traditional media. And to ensure your product emerge as one of the quality works amongst the many requires considerable amount of research and creativity.
Kenny Basumatary, the man behind Local Kung Fu 1 and 2 has once again gifted the people of Assam his latest production Suspended Inspector Boro. At a time when watching cinema in TV or in the cinema halls is dwindling every subsequent day and the all pervading Netflix and Amazon prime taking most of our leisure time, SIB is finding its way in the hearts of the people.
SIB is very local in nature and is a beautiful amalgamation of humour, fun, seriousness, love and sacrifice. It could successfully evoke an emotional connect and is amazingly original.
Filmmaker Kenny could depict in this less than 2 hours’ of presentation affection, selflessness, women power, moral policing, human trafficking, sheer insensitivity to mother earth, corrupt law and order system. But he does this in a subtle way not letting you realize that you are getting ‘preached’. He primarily keeps you hooked to the story line and therefore integrates all these other elements in the story. Moreover, the director could bring best out of his actors in the movie and all of them look flawless.
A general attitude of abhorrence to any regional movie which has developed over the period of time is definitely going to get dismantled if more of such sensible films come. The year 2018 is remarkable for Assam when we talk of Assamese films. Films like Village Rockstars, Alifa, III Smoking Barrels and Suspended Inspector Boro are recreating the lost lustre of the Assamese film industry and all over again making the industry more vibrant unleashing thereby more and more potential and possibilities.
