Manipur Information Centre
\nNew Delhi , Nov 22: It is a great honour to Manipuri cinema and a big salute to filmmakers, technicians and artistes involved in Manipuri film industry that the critically acclaimed Manipuri feature film- Ishanou (1990), one of the masterpieces of Aribam Syam Sharma has been included among 27 Indian feature films to be screened at the Centenary Indian Cinema section of the 43rd International Film festival of India 2012 which is being held at Goa from November 20-30.
\nIshanou (Chosen One) was the official selection of the Government of India for screening at Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes International Film Festival 1991 and was the first ever film from the North East India showcased at the prestigious Cannes Festival.
\nThe 91- minute colour film tells an extraordinary story of a young wife (Anoubam Kiranmala) who suddenly begins to experience a series of fits and trances which the doctors cannot cure. A happy small family, somewhere in the Manipur valley, a husband (Kangabam Tomba) and wife and their little girl (Baby Molly) under the caring and protective authority of a market woman (Manbi) broke up when Tampha, the young wife was possessed by the divinity of the mysterious Maibi phenomenon and went through a series of violent feats of vision and trance till she ran away from home in frantic nocturnal quest of her Maibi Guru for initiation into the sect of the chosen.
\nMagic and mystery broke upon the mundane world of buying and selling and common rituals like that of a young girl\u2019s ears being pierced and buying of a second hand scooter and a promotion in office bringing into play the world of the Maibis, with their exquisite ritual singing and dancing and worship and mythmaking.
\nBut behind the colourful spectacle of traditional Lai Haraoba, into which Tampha almost lost herself in enraptured absorption, there lurked the pain of a mother who could no longer nurture a child who then grew into a stranger. The film closed on those images of estrangement that almost stifles the sheer grandeur and glory of the ritual festival.
\nEminent litt\u00e9rateur M.K. Binodini scripted with screenplay the story. Girish Padhiar was the cameraman and Ujjwal Nandi was the editor.
\nThe feature films selected for the package are Dhundiraj Govind Phalke\u2019s silent film-Raja Harischandra (1913), Franz Osten\u2019s Hindi Film-Achhut Kanya (1936), Vishnupam Govind Damle\u2019s Hindi- Marathi film- Sant Tukaram (!936), Uday Shankar\u2019s Hindi film- Kalpana (1948), S.S.Vasan\u2019s Tamil film- Chandralekha(1948),Raj Kapoor\u2019s Hindi film- Awaara (1951), Satyajit Ray\u2019s Bengali film- Pather Panchali (1955), Guru Dutt\u2019s Hindi Film- Pyaasa (1956), K. Asif\u2019s Hindi-Urdu film-Mughal-E-Azam(1960), Ritwik Ghatak\u2019s Bengali film- Meghe Dhaka Tara (1960), Ramu Kariat\u2019s Malayalam film- Chemmeen(1965), Mrinal Sen\u2019s Hindi film- Bhuvan Shome (1969), Pattabhi Rama Reddy\u2019s Kannada film- Samskara (1970), Mani Kaul\u2019s Hindi film- Duvidha, Kamal Amrohi\u2019s Urdu film- Pakeezah ((1971), M.S Sathyu\u2019s Hindi-Urdu film- Garam Hawa (1973), Ramesh Sippy\u2019s Hindi film- Sholay(1975), Shyam Benegal\u2019s Hindi film- Bhumika (1976), G. Aravindan\u2019s Malayalam film- Thampu (1978), Adoor Gopalkrishnan\u2019s Elippathayam ( 1981), Dasari Narayana Rao\u2019s Telegu film- Megha Sandesam (1982), G.V.Iyer\u2019s Sanskrit film- Adi Shankaracharya (1983), Aribam Syam Sharma\u2019s Manipuri film- Ishanou (1990), Ashutosh Gowariker\u2019s Hindi film- Lagaan (2001), Mani Ratnam\u2019s Tamil film- Kannathil Muthamittal (2001), Rajkumar Hirani\u2019s Hindi film- Lage Raho Munnabhai and Anurag Basu\u2019s Hindi film- Barfi (2012).
\nAbout the Centenary Indian Cinema package, Ira Bhaskar, Curatorial Consultant said, \u201cIn this centenary year since the release of DG Phalke\u2019s Raja Harischandra, we celebrate the vibrant spirit and traditions of the cinemas of the world\u2019s largest film producing nation with this package of films in ten different Indian languages.\u201d
\n\u201cWhile the inaugural programme of this section features the launch of the Indian Film Industry with Raja Harischandra and a screening of Uday Shankar\u2019s international acclaimed Kalpana that has been newly restored, the package draws on different films through the decades to illustrate Indian Cinema\u2019s symbolic relationship with the social, political and cultural life of the nation. The package concludes with the big popular entertainment hit of the year, Barfi which also pays tribute International Cinema\u201d, she added.<\/p>\n\n