Assamese films need better reach: Director Jahnu Barua
Jahnu Barua, an Indian film director
By Saanya Borah
Jahnu Barua , the well-known Indian film director, talks about his upcoming film on the Ahom military commander, Lachit Borphukan.
The movie focuses on the famous Battle of Saraighat. It will depict the naval battle fought in 1671 between the Mughal empire and the Ahom kingdom. It’s on how the small number of Ahom soldiers were able to defeat the huge Mughal army and not letting Mughals invade the State.
Though in pre-production phase, Barua is looking forward to work on this project. "It is important to remember our heroes of our beloved state.’"
Coming from a lower middle class family, he faced financial struggles. He went for his classes during the evening and worked during the day to cover for his expenses. He credits his family for supporting him as much as they could. His interest in films started at a Film Festival organized by the GuwahatiCinema Club while he doing his BS c where he got to see classic international films. Satyajit Ray , the legendary film maker inspired him to make movies and tell stories. He felt that it was a very artistic and aesthetic medium of cinema to communicate with the audience.
He said, “Cinema may look easy to people but, itis one of the hardest fields to tell a story.”
His movies mostly revolve around the aspect of humanity. He brings simplicity in his stories to connect with his audience. “Somewhere, there is always a reflection of your life in your stories.”
The audience can find the special touches in his films as he is emotionally involved while making them.
Hailing from a village background, he always wanted to share rural stories in which he succeeded when he directed his social genre feature film ‘Halodhia Soraiye Bau Dhaan Khai’ which won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in 1988.Assamese films, he believes, need to reach a wider audience to be recognised. “A film becomes popular because of the audience. The number of people watching Assamese films is very less.
“Despite language differences, movies get attention when their stories touch the hearts of the people,” he said.
Filmmakers, he added, are chasing after commercial movies so much, that they have lost the touch of good quality stories. He believes that there are many good stories to be found in the rural areas but no one in interested in telling them.
Barua has been bestowed thePadma Shri in 2003 and Padma Bhushan in 2015 for his work. He feels that although receiving awards makes him happy, he never prefers to run after them as he believes it will affect his work. He considers himself as a storyteller and focuses on making films but along the way, recognition or awards, make him feel that he has done something good.
His message to the young people who aspire to be directors is to have faith in themselves be prepare ,as life is full of hard work.
You will never get satisfaction if you don’t do hard work. So have faith in yourselves and you will succeed.’
The story first appeared in The Times of Bennett, the lab newspaper produced by the first semester students of TheTimes School of Media .
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The movie focuses on the famous Battle of Saraighat. It will depict the naval battle fought in 1671 between the Mughal empire and the Ahom kingdom. It’s on how the small number of Ahom soldiers were able to defeat the huge Mughal army and not letting Mughals invade the State.
Though in pre-production phase, Barua is looking forward to work on this project. "It is important to remember our heroes of our beloved state.’"
Coming from a lower middle class family, he faced financial struggles. He went for his classes during the evening and worked during the day to cover for his expenses. He credits his family for supporting him as much as they could. His interest in films started at a Film Festival organized by the Guwahati
He said, “Cinema may look easy to people but, itis one of the hardest fields to tell a story.”
His movies mostly revolve around the aspect of humanity. He brings simplicity in his stories to connect with his audience. “Somewhere, there is always a reflection of your life in your stories.”
The audience can find the special touches in his films as he is emotionally involved while making them.
Hailing from a village background, he always wanted to share rural stories in which he succeeded when he directed his social genre feature film ‘Halodhia Soraiye Bau Dhaan Khai’ which won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in 1988.
“Despite language differences, movies get attention when their stories touch the hearts of the people,” he said.
Filmmakers, he added, are chasing after commercial movies so much, that they have lost the touch of good quality stories. He believes that there are many good stories to be found in the rural areas but no one in interested in telling them.
Barua has been bestowed the
His message to the young people who aspire to be directors is to have faith in themselves be prepare ,as life is full of hard work.
You will never get satisfaction if you don’t do hard work. So have faith in yourselves and you will succeed.’
The story first appeared in The Times of Bennett, the lab newspaper produced by the first semester students of The
Join exciting programmes offered by Bennett University
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