Assam English news | Assam, Latest News & Live Updates in English | English News (Latest English News) at Lokmattimes.com

Bhaskar told : "We all know that cultural stereotyping happens out of ignorance. If people have a misconception about northeastern people, they should fix the problem. They should become well-versed, well-travelled and explore that part of the country. They should not be ignorant. I also think it is slightly unfair to filmmakers of the Northeast to become flagbearers of their culture and only make films to represent their society. A story cannot be limited to a region."His film "Aamis" has been screened under the India Gold section at the 21st Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival with Star. The film features Lima Das, Arghadeep Baruah, Neetali Das, Sagar Saurabh.The word "Aamis" refers to eating meat. Asked if the film intends to make a statement on the politics of eating habits, the director said: "If I wanted to make a political film on meat-eating, I could have been much more direct with the message, instead of making a love story. But yes, the whole topic of meat-eating is one of the elements used while weaving the story of a couple. It is an interesting element because in our society there is a lot of taboo attached to meat-eating. Having said that, it is a love story."However, he admits the fact that cinema is a reflection of politics and the society that we live in."All work of art is a reflection of the artist's political view. The question is if it is overtly political or just incidental. Every story that we tell is the reflection of the politics and cultural norms of that time. Politics is inseparable from art. Perhaps that is why the audience would immediately connect aAamis' with the politics of food and meat-eating. But the intention of my film is not that," he pointed out.Starting his career in television, Bhaskar made his debut as a feature film director in 2015 with the film "Kothanodi". The film won a National award.Does he feel the responsibility of representing the Northeast through his films?"Just because we are from the Northeast and the film is set in Assam, it does not mean the film represents the Northeast. It is a diverse culture and society. Not every Hindi film is representative of the whole of India, right? When I make a film, my primary driving force is to tell a compelling story. The location of the story and what it represents comes later," said Bhaskar.He added: "As a storyteller I refrain from only representing the Northeast, just because that is my native place. Tomorrow, if I tell the story of a Jaat family in Delhi, should I not tell that story, because it is not set in the Northeast? That is not how a storyteller thinksanot me!"In recent times, young filmmakers as Rima Das have taken the Assamese film industry to global heights. How does he look at new-age Assamese cinema?"Our film industry was actually flourishing in the eighties. Assamese people were proud of their films, with works of filmmakers like Bhabendra Nath Saikia and Jahnu Barua making a mark. Then, society was disturbed by militancy and a conducive atmosphere to make cinema ceased to exist. Producers were not interested to invest in Assamese cinema and the industry suffered. However, over the past few years, we are gaining back the respect we deserve as Assamese filmmakers, thanks to Rima Das," he replied."These days, films are being produced again and we are growing as an industry. My bigger dream is to see our film industry grow as big as the Bengali, Marathi, and Malayalam industries. We have the talent and the stories. With the right exposure, we are going therea!"Jio MAMI 21st Mumbai Film Festival with Star continues till October 24.(Arundhuti Banerjee can be contacted at arundhuti.b@.in)( With inputs from IANS )

AssamFOLLOW

Assam, Latest News

The Assam Government has formed a special review committee on the conditions prevailing in state detention centres, a statement issued by the Chief Minister's Office said on Friday. ...

Recently a large number of art lovers from the national capital witnessed the unique amalgamation of culture when the glorious history of the Vaishnavite culture of Assam was brought to the forefront in the form of dance-drama in an event called 'Ras ...

Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has called for restoration of the Brahmaputra-Barak-Padma-Meghna riverine waterways to take forward the outcome of the India-Bangladesh Stakeholders' Meet. ...

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said that her government would not allow setting up detention centres in the state while reiterating that the National Register of Citizens (NRC) would not be implemented in West Bengal. ...

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Assam has decided that people with more than two children will be ineligible for government jobs after January 1, 2021. ...

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday ruled out any possibility of detention centres coming up in West Bengal on the lines of such camps for keeping illegal foreigners being set up in states like Assam and Karnataka. ...

The latest annual crime data, "Crime in India-2017", released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), on Monday, revealed that there was an increase of 3.6 per cent in criminal cases in 2017 compared to 2016 when 50 lakh cases of cognisable offe ...

National award-winning Assamese filmmaker Bhaskar Hazarika says that though he comes from the Northeast, which has been stereotyped and remains underrepresented in the mainstream Bollywood, as a storyteller he does not want to limit himself as a afla ...