Manipur film is set to complete 50 years of existence in 2022. The first full feature film, “Matamgi Manipur” was completed and screened in 1972. But it was “Imagi Ningthem” 10 years later which heralded on the global arena the arrival of a brave new world of Manipuri Cinema. Even as “Imagi Ningthem” completes its 40th year this year, and in celebration of Manipur’s first step into the celluloid world 10 years earlier, Joshy Joseph and his team have completed a retrospect on Aribam Syam Sharma, the veteran film maker and virtuoso who is not only the director of “Imagi Ningthem” but also has been the tallest captain of this artistic enterprise in Manipur. We are publishing below the transcript of the lengthy narration of the master in response to Joshy’s probes, used as subtitles of the film.
Aribam Syam Sharma
Laparoscopic Cinemascapes
Chapter – 01
A CULTURAL VORTEX
This place Manipur…
If you see…
If you want to understand
Manipuri culture…
I just wonder…
Because they created…
Those forefathers of mine… Manipuris…
I’m talking about Manipuris…
They created music…
Beautiful music!
Traditional music, folk music,
Nata Sankirtan music…
Khongjom Parba… if you happen to know
of Khongjom Parba…
It is about the defeat of
the Manipuris…
Manipuri army at the hands of
the British in 1891
It is the longest Ballad…
It is a beautiful patriotic song…
It is beautiful…..
The story is told in
many hours…
It’s beautiful music which was
created here in Manipur…
After 1891
You imagine!
And then we have these different
types of dance forms
Dance means Lai Haraoba…
Pre-Vaishnavite culture…
Where through music and dance…
The creation…
The myth of creation…
Genesis…
Everything is explained
Why… how this life
comes on earth…
How earth is created…
Everything is shown through
dance and music…
Lai Haraoba..
It is very interesting…
I mean, I have made
films on that!
I have recorded many hours…
for IGNCA…
After that only I made ISHANOU..
After knowing all these things
And then we have
this Nata Sankirtan…
About the Viashnav culture…
and about…
The (sumumbarnama) of life…
What you need?…
What you want in your life?
Why are you born?
Do you’ve anything
you want in your life?
There must be something…
That is, what’s the best in life
which you must be after…
That sumumbarnama of life…
That is in Vaishnav philosophy…
That is in Nata Sankirtan…
And the Raas, Maha Raas you know…
It is nothing but the union of…
Our soul with supreme or super soul…
That is Radha Krishna…
It’s got different meanings…
different layers…
And all these traditions…
And that too…
Even now we have only 20 lakh people…
Or for Meities it might be
around about 15 lakh…
At that time how many people
must be there…
Very few! Might be thousand!
They created this type of…
I mean, imagine their talent!
And then, so many write-ups…
So many old…
They created our own script…
And they wrote so many books
On so many subjects!
And so, I thought…
Because they are very subtle…
Raas, if you see Raas dance…
It is very subtle
And so… in flower arrangement
you will see the same thing…
And in our costume
you’ll see the same thing…
And so I was trying to find out
what is that Manipuri-ness in that
What have we given to this world?
Or, if you have created something…
What is the basis of that?
What is that inside this culture?
What is that most important thing
in this culture?
I tried to find out these
and tried to make films…
Somehow with that vision….
You know…
So, my making of film…
Perhaps it’s not one of the best…
No, I never claim that
It is up to other people to decide
But I don’t care very much for that also…
Because, our way of expression…
My point is…
Must be kept…
Because, this form of art…
This art belongs to this world
If once it’s lost…
It will be lost forever
And if it is this what we created…
What is our contribution?…
The contribution…
It’s very important
Though the people may be very few…
The Manipuris…
The number’s very few
In India… if you compare with India…
It’s nothing
But, they have given…
This thing in film also…
I was thinking that way…
This thing is very important and…
Simple… simplicity…
Is one of Vaishnab’s
most important thing
Simple just like a grass, they say…
You must be simple like the grass
In Shantiniketan also
I’ve got the same training…
Very simple life but very high thinking…
Very simple life…
But the thinking must not be that…
You must’ve very high thinking…
Not simpleton, but simple!
It is not easy to be simple…Sometimes…
But of course, nowadays, you know…
When you do not speak out
With your complete conviction…
Sometimes, nowadays…
They think that…
We don’t have that guts…
Or that we don’t have that…
That knowledge or wisdom…
You may say it that way…
But, our culture, up till now
Has got this thing…
They don’t show much…
Or other people may think
they are shy…
But it is not that
When a man meets an elder…
In your culture…
You generally avoid eye contact…
– Yes
But how did you really mange it in cinema?
Yes…In cinema, of course
It depends on the situation…
That expression you know…
These expressions are very important…
These physical expressions…
And the whole totality…
The whole totality must be taken
And not… Especially, I tell you one thing…
Have you seen Manipuri Raas?
You must have seen Manipuri Raas
In Manipuri Raas you’ll see…
Especially in Manipuri dance…
There is no expression on the face…
That is not allowed…
Because there’s even a veil…
Not to show… A veil is on the face…
With a veil, how can you express!
There is no facial expression
All body…
– Yes
If there is no facial expression
why do you take CLOSE-UPs?
You must have close-ups if
there is some expression…
The whole facial expression… not even eyes…
the whole expression…
If you want to show that…
then of course it must be taken…
But if only for the sake of close-up
You are taking that close-up
Then it doesn’t have any meaning!
You’re not doing justice to dance…
Manipuri dance… that is my idea
But in Kathak sometimes
they show the feet
Doing all sorts of jingles
And all those things…
The face & everything…
Other forms of Indian classical dances…
So many… abhinay
& all those things are there…
But not in Manipuri no
They don’t follow that…
They are following another type
of scripture… Vaishnava
Where you see it is closed
And you’re not…
Suppose I’m Syam Sharma…
When I’m in the dance I’m not Syam Sharma…
I am representing something…
Some soul…
So it must be…
Your face is not important…
You understand my point!
Gopi is important!
And so at that time…
Manipuri dance has got different meaning…
And when you know all these things
Sometimes it’s very difficult to comment
or make a film on Manipuri dance…
This thing, we can have discussion
for long hours… So please…
But at least this point we should discuss…
The Maha Raas…
The performer and the audience…
It is participatory…
Now, how to solve it in cinema…
And you said that, may be
I might have failed as a filmmaker…
To negotiate with the medium…
Or…
Or is it the way to…
Yes, yes, you are very right!
Because the whole…
Because Maha Raas, specially this Raas…
To document or to make any film
on that it is very important…
How to make a film where both
The audience and the artists or the players…
They participate together…
And this, because we cry, we weep
and we bow to the Gods and to the Gopis…
During the performance
And so… even now I don’t know
how to make any film on this
So I don’t make any films so far…
I never…
Because, some years back…
Kapila Ji… she wanted me
to make a film on this Maha Raas
I said, no, I am not prepared for this
She was willing to give money
But I said, no, I’m not prepared for this
Because this is the only subject
where I failed up till now
I don’t know, someday
some other men can do that..
some filmmaker…
But up till now I can’t do that
Because it is not only for…
For the audience…
It’s not meant for the audience…
The whole problem is that
Those participants…
It’s made for the…
This Raas is for the participants…
Participants means YOU
everyone there… You are becoming Gopi…
Only Gopis are allowed to go
near Radha and Krishna
On this day, what happens you know…
Though Hindus, they are
very male oriented…
Only Brahmins will be allowed
to touch Krishna…
In the South it is much more difficult!
That you know…
But here, on Maha Raas…
On the Raas…
Krishna and Radha will be there
on the Raas Mandap…
The idols will be brought out…
On this day, all the Gopis
are allowed to touch them…
The players…
Not the Brahmins even…
All the Gopis are allowed to touch
the feet of Radha and Krishna
Imagine!
And so, to me…
Gopis on that particular Raas…
It is something great for us!
Even my wife you know
She participated once…
In that way…
We think one’s very highly favoured
or very fortunate
If she can play once in her lifetime
to be a Gopi…
I mean in Raas…
They can touch…
Not me
But the Gopis, if they play there
in the Raas… they can touch
And that darkness…
Ah, yes, the darkness…
That is…
You know, Krishna is lost…
If you read Maha Raas
Especially in Manipuri performance…
For 4-5 minutes there is a singing…
This Gopi Geet…
Because Krishna is lost…
Krishna has gone away…
With Radha…
They say, with Radha…
At that time Radha…
The Gopis are seeking…
Where are you?…
There are so many…
It’s a very difficult song in the Bhagavad
There you will find that
during the performance in Raas…
The light will be out for 4-5 minutes…
Darkness…
Complete darkness will be there…
It is symbolic
We are in darkness…
We are searching for you…
And how to make film on that!
With 5 minutes darkness…
And I made it… you know…
just documented!
That’s very interesting story!
I’ll always remember this you know…
I documented it in Maha Raas..
And sent for IGNCA…
to Kapila Ji…
And they have seen that…
All those officials, they saw…
They wrote to me…
There’s some mistake…
There is some darkness in your tape!
4-5 minutes darkness!
I said, no how!
There is no darkness in that way!
Then I realised that it must be that…
Chapter – 02
A CLOSE-UP CONUNDRUM
She is such great personality!
And I feel myself so small before her
And I can’t imagine how to capture her…
To take a photograph of her!
I mean, that…
What shall I say…
That pipe…
That pipe inside her nose…
If you feel that…
It’s like a placenta…
Life giving force…
If you make that, then it is okay
It’s a beautiful thing…
The child you know…
The child with a placenta…
I feel that way
But you have photograph
in such a ugly way!
If you are making her ugly
by photograph…
So, the personality is a must…
Person!
The person is a must…
And what I have seen in…
So I told them not to make
any cinema or film on her…
Means from that end…
Because her personality…
If you can capture her personality
Then that’s okay…
If not, you are undermining her
If you take only one side of her
that’s a different thing…
But so we become…
Because such a life…
Such a daughter of ours…
And taking no food
for eleven years…
And we are eating…
And I said I don’t want to go near her even…
I felt so ashamed of myself…
So ashamed of myself
But you can’t do anything
That’s the most unfortunate part
So when you make any film on her…
This is my general advice…
Because she is great!
If you try to take any photograph of her
Try to make sure.
That she’s not downgraded or
You’re not dragging her down
Her personality…
Do you think so?
But this philosophic decision
which you take…
You are ignoring the film
So you are not at that moment …
You know….
Thinking about the final outcome in film…
But that particular moment of your life…
Not the film…
The life which is represented in the film…
This is a very important…
Very… very fine moments…
In all our lives
and in your life…
I see several such moments…
I don’t know.
But Joshy…
I feel for her, especially for her…
Such a strong person…
So many angles…
looking from so many angles…
As a cinematographer
as a photographer…
I have to make… just like the Raas film
Just like I failed in that…
I’m not making any film so far
on Maha Raas…
In the same way, this is my outlook…
This is my way, only of thinking…
That she is also like that…
She is a great person!
And to capture her…
…I don’t know, painting might…
Perhaps helps…
But photography… in photographs…
Specially, I’ve seen…
That pipe!
That makes her ugly!
She is such beautiful… Personality…
I’m talking about personality…
It is just like the umbilical chord…
I am thinking in that way…
Just looking at her…
Maybe right, maybe wrong…
But in an artistic expression of myself…
This is giving life
So, make it in that way…
That beautiful way…
Just a side…
You know… umbilical chord…
It is beautiful!
So make…
If possible…
If you can make your photograph like that…
That’s okay…
If not…
It’s just like Lotus
Blooms you know…
In that particular grip like…
It blooms…
The Lotus blooms
Why don’t you compare with that?
That is my…
Concept of the things…
there are many other things, but…
As a filmmaker…
Filmmaker is essentially a photographer…
Through photographs we’re expressing things…
So, in expression the angle
you choose and everything…
Her expression, her eyes…
I always say, take her eyes…
It is significant!
Why you take the whole of the specimen…
Her eyes is… you see!
You see her eyes!
Her eyes are something great!
Her expression through her eyes…
Eyebrows and eyes…
It is wonderful!
Her eyes are great!
She must be seeing things, this world itself…
If you can talk to her or something…
But I’m afraid!
One last question… So…
Syam Sharma, who avoided
more close-ups in his films
Because Syam Sharma believed
in the body of the actor…
Who expresses through the entire body…
And the same Syam Sharma, now seeing…
Not even close-up…
A macro close-up of Sharmila…
Wonderful!
Your idea is wonderful!
Chapter – 03
MOMENTS AND MOVEMENTS
Imagi Ningthem…
That’s something very important to my life…
I mean, when we are writing scripts…
Yes, the first script we had written…
And so many sessions
we had to sit together…
Ibohal was making…
with his 16mm camera…
Every time, everywhere….
Where we were taking the shots
Maha Rajkumari will be there…
At nights… even at late night…
Because at that time, whenever I felt
that I’ve to change my dialogue…
I always said-
Maha Rajkumari please…
Means, because it was written earlier
It doesn’t fit in that particular place…
So, please change this…
Please change that…
She must be always there!
And even at that night…
I remember
The child artist, you know…
When I was taking a shot…
I don’t know if it’s here or not…
Sick…
He was very sick…
And how to get the shot!
That temperature and everything…
High temperature…
I allowed him to sleep…
Because his mother was also there…
For some one hour…
We are waiting
Then abruptly I wake him up…
Abruptly I wake him up…
Then puting only Vaseline on his face…
The whole camera team was ready…
Then ‘Pupu’…
Say ‘Pupu’…
Because… Grandfather…
‘I can’t see you’…
Because he can’t open his eyes…
The child can’t…
Because he was so sleepy
And only said-
‘I can’t see you Pupu’…
And that shot was wonderful!
With that temperature & everything…
It was coming that way…
Then, the mother was very angry…
You are torturing my child!
She is from my locality
Of course we’ve got very good relation…
And Maha Rajkumari was there!
My point is Maha Rajkumari was there…
And she was explaining to her…
I mean the shot you know…
How to take that particular shot!
I still remember…
That was…
Very unique and wonderful shot it was!
So, in that way…
Maha Rajkumari…
Then Ishanou…
Let me tell you about Ishanou…
Ishanou is not written…
It is not from her story…
It’s written only for film
Ishanou and Olangthagee…
These two scripts were written only for film
And so this Ishanou…
Maibis (female oracles), you know…
You have to know about Maibis…
A little difficult for me to explain…
These Maibis…
Somehow
Maha Rajkumari…
Was very much fond of these Maibis
She always…
Welcomed them, at any moment…
Because she is a lover of flowers…
Maha Rajkumari… you’ll see there’s
a beautiful garden at her residence…
At the same time…
In Jawaharlal Nehru Dance Academy also…
And these Maibis
they are very much fond of flowers…
They will pluck it, anywhere…
They have this type of feeling…
I don’t know why…
They’re always after flowers…
Maibis…
Maha Rajkumari…
She’s a lover of flowers…
And she will say-
No one must pluck these flowers!
She’ll even punish those who pluck…
But, when Maibis….
They pluck the flowers..
She will laugh!
She will say – Okay, okay!
She always agrees
Whenever the Maibis pluck the flowers
to put them on their hairs…
They always put them on their hair…
They are very much fond of flowers…
These Maibis…
But she was not angry with them?
– No
She’d never be angry with Maibis…
She just enjoys with them…
and their stories…
She always welcomes them
at her residence also
She knows many stories about them
From those stories, she developed
this story of Ishanou…
Many stories…
So, we sat together in the…
Maibis…
How to…
Develop the stories…
Different sequences… different scenes…
And then…
About who’ll play this part of Tampha
Tampha means main heroine of this film…
Tampha…
Interestingly, in Manipur…
What happens in Manipur, you know…
Generally who…
Generally the Meiteis….
Not the Brahmins…
You may play… just like…
Maibis… or put to be someone
related to the Maibi…
You also become a Maibi!
Sometimes, I can’t express very well…
It’s difficult you know
if you don’t practice…
I don’t talk much also
Those people who talk
they can express very well… young people…
But I don’t talk much
But you express!
I was trying to express myself
But you express… you do definitely express
Expression of feelings…
It’s actually very difficult..
When you say about Maha Rajkumari…
You know, it is very easy…
She’s like this… then… those things…
I mean, to compare… but how I feel
If you ask me…
Then there lies the whole difficulty
for me to express
I never write a single line about her
after her death
This is the first time I’m talking to you
Because I can’t express how I feel!
There’s no expression! There’s no words for it!
Then what to do!
Because, you see…
When she was no more
Just between you and myself
I am telling you…
Many people came to me…
Say one line…
And such personalities like
Ratan Thiyam and all…
They had written very beautiful lines about her…
But I am not a poet
I don’t know how to write a poem…
That I don’t know
But I’ve got the feeling in me…
But I don’t get any words for that…
Then what to do!
Then I’m actually cheating myself!
When I say something I’m cheating myself!
So I don’t say anything…
I won’t say anything, I said
If I…
There’s no word for it..
Then what to do!
So far the words which I knew
in my vocabulary…
There might be…
If there’s some poet who can express that
that’s quiet different…
But for me I can’t…
I don’t have any words for that…
For the first time in my life…
After the death of Maha Rajkumari…
I’ve never said any word about her
But as a relationship…
As a script-writer and myself… yes…
But if you ask me about my feeling…
About how I feel…
Then it is very difficult to say
Chapter – 04
TURBULENT TIMES
I was playing over there…
On that veranda …
Then those birds…
Only one… We saw only one…
Only one plane coming…
With that sound, it was coming…
Then suddenly it spread out like anything!
The formation was such
You’re seeing only one…
But up there in a line they were…
And then spreads out… And then…
Begins to sort of…
Shelling!
And we rush inside..
Then I told you earlier…
There were bunkers under our bed…
There were bunkers in our houses …
Bunkers were already made!
Because our….
People here knew that there’ll be attack
Earlier there was no…
There was no seating…
It must be empty…
It must be open also…
These designs see…
These very old timbers…
This is…
Very big timbers
This is Manipuri way of making houses…
At that time
I was born here…
That… after bombing you know…
We went inside…
We went inside…
and then under this…
Oh it’s the bunker!
Yes, bunker…
Bunkers!
No, no light…
Bunkers you know…
And we…
After bombing we went outside…
This’s okay…
Because…
And this is…
This… These
Come
Trees… very old…
Second World War bombing…
Second World War bombing was you know…
The bombing was near this…
Just… here in Khwatung there is a Bazaar…
There it is 4th Assam Rifles Cantonment area…
You know that…
They were targeting on this
I came to know…
The bombing was targeting
on this cantonment area…
That is so near…
So, the bomb just fell just nearby…
Here…
But we were all inside our house…
Because at that time trenches were dug…
Under our beds…
Our cots you know…
And so we just went inside…
We’re little boys…
6 years old, I must be…
’36… ’42…
And so I just remember…
We were inside…
And after that
we went to the villages
We went to our villages
There we lost my father…
I mean… my father…
Then the same year I lost my mother!
It’s strange you know…
that happens…
Due to Cholera or some disease…
Then we went to Brindaban…
Because my…
Because this place belongs to…
it’s a very long story…
Maharajkumari…
I mean, Kakai…
You will get it there (in the book)…
– I know…
And so, we went there..
And then after coming here…
Again we started a new life here
My uncles and aunties
They brought us up…
We three brothers you know…
And they gave education & everything!
Everything! I mean…
Without them I could never have
been in this position!
It is impossible!
It is just like a drama in a way…
In a way it is just like a play!
Because my uncle next to my father…
And my mother and aunty…
they were sisters…
One is brother and one is sister!
And so they somehow….
They didn’t have their children again…
When we grew up then they had children
That’s another thing very interesting
in life you know… I must say
It’s just like a film I tell you!
It’s just like a film!
I was talking to you about…
it is just like a film
And this god… I mean Gopal Dev
also belongs to Kakai…
So, we are worshiping…
Then, after this we’re becoming more & more…
I mean, I personally…
In the field of art and culture
and filmmaking…
And through philosophy…
My subject was philosophy
in Shantiniketan…
I always wanted to read philosophy…
Though I was a student of science also
And so life… sometimes at this age
We begin to reflect…
On our past…
At the same time, what’s happening now…
And rather…
I’m becoming a bit philosophical
At this age… a bit philosophical…
Not very much for power…
And I’m trying rather
Not to be greedy!
Because there’s no end of greed…
That’s the whole problem…
And if trying to be a bit simple in life…
To have a simple life &
to understand more…
The realities of this life…
Because death is one…
A reality!
The most important reality of life is death
You can’t avoid it!
That is… you know
When we become old
We are nearing to that…
That doesn’t mean that you must be
very pessimistic… No!
Try to understand…
it’s a beautiful thing…
If you think it’s just like music…
It’s just like…
Life is just like a…
A beautiful experience rather…
Then you begin to feel
in a very different way…
That I am trying!
That I am trying my best!
To look at life with that vision…
Just like another type of camera
Chapter – 05
IMAGES FROM DUST
Joshy, I think you know…
That film… specially in filmmaking…
I’m talking about filmmaking…
We are creating some…
In a way, you may say…
Some grammar
It is actually…
It is not from your side…
I mean, without… because…
without understanding.
The whole idea…
I’m talking about…
this is a bit difficult to explain…
Because you know…
What we are taught in film…
You are given some ideas
That this ‘s close-up, this’s mid-shot, this’s long-shot…
Some variations of that & all those things…
Those are the tools by which
you are trying to explain something
And who are those people…
Those thinkers, rather…
Filmmakers
They have given you these…
That these are the tools for making…
And when you are narrating something…
You’re narrating someting you know…
That will never suffice…
That is my point
What is given to you will never suffice
to explain what you want to
Just like poetry
Just like poetry
The words…
Are not that important…
The words give another meaning…
Behind your words
There’s the imagery or whatever you know…
That vision… there’s another vision
besides the words…
The written, spoken, beyond that…
Beyond that!
Films also are having that… my point is this
Of course they say, in editing
it goes to another third thing…
But you know it depends…
My point is, you must…
there’s no end of this…
End of search of this
Every filmmaker who is talented
who wants to do something…
He must have his own point of view
or his own way of explaining things
But we don’t try to understand from that angle
We try to judge from our own angle
Not from the view point of…
the filmmaker
We try to explain from our own angle…
Even in cinematography
Even in cinematography, what we find…
Those who are coming out from Pune
or other new…
They are taught…
All those western ideas…
Cinematography… beautiful shots
& all those things…
Their whole idea goes in that way
Not in dusty Indian scenes, you know…
Not in that way…
Those beautiful scenes in the western countries…
Western paintings, you know…
I think so far we’ve also not developed
our way of cinematography
I don’t know what you think…
I mean, Indian way…
We should have our own way
of cinematography
This dusty thing
I love my place, Manipur…
Even better than New York!
New York has got very beautiful buildings…
But I don’t like it…
I like this place… then how…
this dusty place…
It has got some beauty…
But to show that, if you begin to judge
from the American way…
With that vision…
With that American spectacle you know
Then there might be difficulty to understand this…
My point is this
So, when your film was shown…
Spielberg’s film was also shown in one festival
which has got the…
As far as Hollywood can attain the perfection…
Your film, with may be some out-of-focus shots
here and there was also shown…
And even yesterday when we were talking
you were not feeling shy of admitting
Yes, there are some out-of-focus shots…
But beyond that
Something is seen
something is attempted…
It’s almost impossible to really take
an out-of-focus shot now…
You have to create an out-of-focus effect
Because you have such techno friendly cameras…
so…
That’s right! You can’t take any out-of-focus shot now
what to do!
Thats right.
So, one lady at that time…
About the future of cinema…
Humane…
Let those humane things in us…
Last thing it comes to that…
Human…
And our creation…
creativity also counts…
This creativity cannot be judged by few symbols
or few grammar you know!
There cannot be the end of our creativity
Chapter – 06
WINGED ROOTS
From the six tongues of
mother earth
The five tongues
Of creation
The four directions
In the beginning
gently… gently… gently
– Where is everybody –
– Where is everybody –
– Tampha, listen –
– Bembem is well –
Aunty, myself
And others decided…
…to send her to Dhanabir’s
Home for schooling…
I came rushing when I heard
You had returned
We are so happy,
You are back
You must stay with
Your mother
– I’ll go now –
– Wait –
Does she know of me?
– Ok then –
– Let it be – Don’t tell her any more
of my new life
Let her not know
Of my existence
Mother Maibi
salutation to you
Shining daughter of
noble birth!
– Radiant gem –
– My love –
I came tracing your footsteps
But I cannot see you
Their separation…
The whole of feeling…
That she will be meeting her daughter…
She is normal now
After so many years of abnormality…
One or two years…
She is coming back home
She was calling-
Where are you my daughter…
She was thinking she must be playing
at the backside…
That was a scene where
I can’t sleep even
Because, I don’t know how to shoot it!
I tell you, this was my experience…
how to shoot that particular scene…
That was something which I can never forget!
Because she was searching her daughter
And at the same time she’s thinking that
her husband might be somewhere…
So in the rooms…
When she was passing through the rooms…
The bed…
The empty bed and everything…
May not be that cent-percent I was
successful in shooting that scene…
But I tried my best in this particular scene
And then she walks out and told that
you see my daughter…
As a Maibi’s daughter becomes a Maibi…
Generally we believe in that
So…
I allowed her to go with her father
To his place, in Cachar…
Then she broke down
This particular shot…
Because we have to cut…
That is the unfortunate part of it…
We have to cut! What to do!
In film we’ve to cut
It is the most unfortunate part!
Coming from drama, I say…
Cutting in filmmaking
is a boon to us
Because temporarily it is best…
Time factor…
You will have to see…
and then also…
To express yourself
it is a boon…
But sometimes I feel…
I become angry sometimes…
Nowadays we’re having this video…
I may have shot much longer…
This particular scene you know…
But in film…
You have to cut somewhere…
I was angry against myself
Because the artist was…
She was actually full of that emotion…
And at that time I had to cut!
Because it’s not possible to elongate
that particular shot…
I have to cut somewhere
Then…
Then my cameraman, Girish, I remember…
I cut…
Girish said-
How to take this shot…
Every cameraman knows
the sensitivity of the particular…
She was very quite…
Lightmen and everything we put…
I said, near this bed…
You keep camera and all on this side…
Then I told her…
You CRY as much as possible!
In EVERY way…
Whatever you want!
I’m giving you the whole freedom!
But no rehearsal!
I took shots without rehearsal…
Many times
No rehearsals!
If one rehearsal is given
that will be the end of the shot!
There will not be that spontaneity…
That cannot be…
There are many…
I can tell you afterwards…
Without any rehearsal…
I don’t want any rehearsal…
I take as it is…
One take is okay
But cameraman must be very careful
That I’ll tell one or two stories…
Very interesting!
Then she…
The camera was there…
And she was sitting…
She just broke down and…
Camera okay
Then Don’t stop camera, I say…
Don’t stop!
Till I say cut
You don’t cut!
She just fell down
near the couch
And then she cried!
Her face down…
Her face was so…
Just after the shot…
It was a beautiful shot!
Then…
My cameraman complained…
Syam Da, how is it possible!
Her face is not in the camera!
Your cameraman also knows…
He also might see…
Her face is not in the camera!
How is it possible!
What happened?
No tears!
Because there must be tears!
When she’s crying her face must be shown
and tears must be in the camera!
Because she just fell down and
she was crying, you know…
But the whole gesture was such!
Such a beautiful shot!
If you happen to see…
But cameraman said –
No Syam Da, it’s impossible…
Because I can’t see her face…
That’s okay man!
That’s the best thing that you’ve done today!
Because there must be…
You know…
When you cry
the camera must be there…
And all those tear drops must be…
They must be falling down there…
But her face was not…
But the moment was such!
The crying was such! Nowadays every…
There’s some weeping of females…
I said NO
No weeping in my film!
If you have to weep
Or if you want to cry…
Cry there…As much as you want…
But not every moment
The women are very…
What shall I say…
Sentimental or something… weeping…
I said no…
Manipuri women don’t do that!
This is… long shot…
Take one long shot…
Of this new…
This is very old structure…
It is more than 100 years old now…
– Oh, Is it?
Right eye is giving a bit of problem
Are you taking very much close-ups?
– No
No, don’t take
You’re against close-ups
So he’s also against close-ups!
If you say Manipuri dance…
If you say Kathakali…
If you say Bharatnatyam…
Suppose in dance, you know
They are all Indian!
Indian classical dance…
In the same way, I think…
Indian film is these regional films
CREDIT TITLE
producer
SMITA VATS SHARMA
photography
K.S.SHRIDHAR
IROM MAIPAK
editing
ATISH NANDY
music
HEISNAM TOMBA
sound
B.SURESH KUMAR
sound mixing
AYAN BHATTACHARYA
assistants
KUMAR TAPAS RANJAN (Camera)
MANAS KUMAR SWAIN (Editing)
subtitle
SUBHAJIT DAS BHAUMIK
stills
RATAN LUWANGCHA
conversation & realisation
JOSHY JOSEPH
acknowledgment
SANGEET NATAK ACADEMY
SAHITYA ACADEMY
DOORDARSHAN
NFDC
MSFDS
HAOBAM PABAN KUMAR
SURBHI GOEL
V.S. KUNDU
ASHUTOSH SHARMA
SARAT CHANDRA
SHANTIMOY SHARMA
Joshy Joseph is an award-winning film maker and writer
