Debut feature of SRFTI alumnus to compete at Busan

KOLKATA: The Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI) is proud of its alumnus Haobam Paban Kumar. His debut feature film titled “Loktak Lairembi” (“Lady of the Lake”) has made it to the competitive section of the 21st Busan International Film Festival (BIFF). At a time when most Indian films hardly compete at any major international film festival of repute, Paban’s debut attempt is reason for celebration both in Manipur and on the SRFTI campus.
Paban will be competing for the Busan International Film Festival New Currents Award that is given to the two best feature films selected from the first or second works of new Asian directors introduced in the New Currents section (a competitive section of BIFF for Asian films). A prize worth 30,000 USD is awarded to each film. The only other Indian film is this competitive section is Padmakumar Narasimhamurthy’s “A Billion Colour Story”.
Other Indian films, including Buddhadeb Dasgupta's "Tope", Konkona Sensharma's "A Death in the Gunj" and Suman Ghosh's "Mi Amor", Maneesh Sharma's "Fan", Ananya Kasaravali's "Chronicles of Hari, Nishikant Kamath's "Madaari", are also being screened at Busan. But they are in a different segment called 'A Window on Asian Cinema'.
Paban, who will be off to Busan on October 6, describes this as a “big event” in his life. His documentary titled “Phum Shang (Floating life)” – that had won the National Award-winning documentary for Best Investigative Film and the Best Documentary award at last year’s Kolkata International Film Festival – is also set in the same backdrop. “I had gone to the lake to do the recce for my feature film. I was planning to use non-actors for my film. I decided to first make a documentary because it takes a person nearer to the people.” Once that was accomplished, Paban got the confidence to start work on his feature film.
“Loktak Lairembi” is about one of the last dwellers on Loktak Lake’s phumdi biomass is Tomba. He is a depressed fisherman. When Tomba finds a gun, it becomes his companion and makes him aggressive, cocky and quick to pick fights—until an old woman knocks on his door one night. Believing that the lady is the spirit of all evils, Tomba chases her and commits an unintended crime.

This film takes off from a part of the narrative featured in his documentary. “The first couple I showed in the documentary also features in my film. The story is developed from writer Sudhir Naoroibam’s ‘Gun’. Not just problems of the fisherman, the film also talks about larger contemporary issues of Manipur. Right now, in my state, whoever has a gun is a king. Only our traditions and customs can save us from the problems we are facing here,” Paban said.
Getting funds for making this movie wasn’t easy. “I had zero money. My mother, wife and aunt pooled in to fund my film. Though it looks like a Rs 40 lakh film, I have spent approximately Rs 15 lakh,” he said. Of course, he doesn’t forget to thank the help of his SRFTI classmates. While Sukanta Mazumdar was in charge of doing the sound design, Shehnad Jalal did the cinematography. Sankho has edited this film. This movie, he said, is like a reunion of the fourth batch of SRFTI.
Paban is keeping his fingers crossed as far as the awards are concerned. “This is the first time that any film from Manipur is having a world premiere at such a prestigious international festival,” he said, glad having coming this far on his first big screen outing.
Watch India TV Premiere of ‘Sin City : A Dame To Kill For’ on 18th September, Sunday @ 9 pm only on MOVIES NOW 2. Hollywood’s Wildchild