By Nabamita Mitra
If the old adage ‘Pen is mightier than sword’ has room for modification then it could be rewritten as ‘film is mightier than any art form’. Filmmaking is a comparatively new medium of expression but a powerful one with a widespread impact. It is this quality that has turned filmmaking into a flourishing industry around the globe, but not before decades of struggle.
In Meghalaya, the art made its entry quite late. It is then natural that filmmaking as an art and as a business will go through similar baptism by fire before it reaches for the sky.
Shillong in undivided Assam had the North East’s first cinephiles’ society formed in 1962 by renowned Assamese director Padum Barua. A decade later when a new state was formed, the city lost the cine society to Assam. It took another decade for Meghalaya to get its first locally made film, Manik Raitong.
It was not before 2000 that the first commercial film in Khasi, Ka Mon Bajwat, was released by director Pamu Das. The film, which had Khasi songs by Bollywood playback singers, became an instant hit.
In the last more than one decade, Meghalaya has seen prolific works by young filmmakers who took all challenges in their stride to develop and popularise the art form.
Award winning documentary filmmaker Tarun Bhartiya says the State’s vibrant film industry is not necessarily centred in Shillong but there are many talented filmmakers in Khasi, Jaintia and Garo Hills who are taking advantage of technology and making low-budget yet good films. “They are using mobile phones, DSLRs to make short films of 10-30 -minute duration. They are not commercial films. But these directors, for the love of cinema, are putting in that effort and uploading on media like Youtube. So that way it is indeed a vibrant scenario,” says Bhartiya.
But challenges for a nascent industry like filmmaking remain aplenty and many in the fraternity say some of the hindrances, which can be readily addressed, are curtailing the prospects of local films in a bigger arena.
Hot points
“Filmmaking got its ‘industry’ tag in Meghalaya around two years ago following a proposal from the Meghalaya Filmmakers’ Association (MeFILMA) in 2011. But every industry needs a policy. Where is it,” asks Commander Shangpliang, president of MeFILMA.
A film policy is a necessary step towards disciplining and organising the industry, especially when it is in a fledgling state. However, Meghalaya is yet to put one in black and white and that has given rise to several problems, says director Pradip Kurbah.
“There had been a series of discussions and meetings on the issue and I was also part of them. But it’s been a year and nothing has happened. It is frustrating,” says Kurbah, whose films Ri and Onaatah have broken regional barriers.
Asked how long the Government will take to frame a policy, Ampareen Lyngdoh, Minister of Information and Public Relations, says it will take some time. “Discussions are on and efforts are being put in but all of these will take time, honestly, because the Government wants to rise up to its commitment. You have to be realistic.”
Shillong is a city of festivals, most of which are promotional to attract more tourists. Of the numerous annual festivals in the city on various themes, filmmaking, especially those in local languages, is not accorded the gravity that it deserves.
The Government’s hankering for a “certain touristy image of Meghalaya where people and places are always made to look a certain way” has affected creativity. “I have been in situations where departments had problems with my depiction of the reality of the State of Meghalaya in my films. An example would be in a film that I made in 2015 called Between the Forest and the Song,” says director Wanphrang Diengdoh.
“But then again, we have to understand that tourism and the commercial film industry usually walk hand in hand. Hence you have the State machinery facilitating a lot of Bollywood films being shot here,” Diengdoh adds with an allusion to the RockOn 2 controversy where the Government had given Rs 2 crore.
D.R Michael Buam, a young filmmaker from Jaintia Hills, says the State Government, so far, has not been forthcoming in developing the local film industry. Had that been done, it would have paid back to the society.
“The film industry, if properly propagated and perpetuated, has the potential to provide employment to many jobless youth. So far, the State Government had organised film festivals and spent crores on them, but these festivals do not promote films from the State. The government should spend more on promoting local films and institute yearly awards to push filmmakers and artistes to raise their standards every year,” observes Buam, who is also an independent researcher and has authored Lamchwa, an English novel.
The 4th Indian Panorama last year had only six regional films (both feature and non-feature) out of the 13 screened but none of them were in Khasi. The year before, eight of the 12 films were from the region. There were three Khasi movies out of the 11 in 2014. Films not only from the state but also from the region get neglected. This is also an injustice to film aficionados in Shillong by not giving them enough options to choose from.
Lyngdoh points out that there were initiatives in the past but censorship is a major issue and many locally made small-budget films do not have the necessary stamp from the Central Board of Film Certification. At the same time she admits that the Government does not have fund.
Shangpliang rebuts the claim and says many films are awaiting release despite having certificates.
The Government’s hand-holding becomes crucial at a time when the industry is on a wobbly ground and distributors are a handful owing to the risk factor attached to it.
Many producers shy away from supporting films in local languages because of poor distribution. Kurbah, whose Ri and Onaatah were made at Rs 28 lakh and Rs 32 lakh, respectively, says his films had multiple producers so that “in case of a loss, the brunt can be shared”.
Almost all filmmakers that Sunday Shillong spoke to agreed that finding a producer for local films is a major issue. “No producer has ever funded more than two films. Once they realise that there are no returns, leave apart profit, they turn back,” says MeFILMA’s Shangpliang.
Mongal Sangma, a filmmaker from Tura, says as filmmaking in Garo language is at its infant stage, the financial problem is worse and directors in the region have to produce their own projects. He is seconded by another filmmaker in Jaintia Hills, Riquoma Rq. Laloo.
Lack of funds often leads to time overrun of projects and “because we have to fund it ourselves we have to depend on other means of livelihood”, says Buam. The distraction definitely affects creativity.
Poor marketing of films and distribution hurdles are making low-budget Khasi, Jaintia and Garo movies a loss-making affair. There are only three theatres in the city, two of which are multiplexes which give more preference to big-budget Bollywood and Hollywood movies.
There are no theatres in the districts and many filmmakers take their movies to villages and screen them using projectors. In fact, this is a common practice here to revive costs. “When my father’s film, Ka Mon Bajwat, was released we took the film to the villages and it became popular in a short span of time. We still practise that,” says Kurbah.
Buam informs that there are no theatres even in Jowai. “There was one in Lad Rymbai till 2007-08 and one in Jowai till 2013-14. So producers have to take their films to villages and localities during festivals.”
Bhartiya too harps on screening facilities more than government funds. “Money kills creativity and government money creates its corruption and patronage. It is not about money but about screening the films. There should be investment in infrastructure. There should be community-owned multipurpose halls which can be used for screening of local films,” he says.
The filmmaker strongly feels that theatre halls here should be forced to run at least two shows of locally made movies. “Most films are not features and are made at a maximum budget of Rs 5 lakh and to recover the money, they need to have shows outside of Shillong too.”
Diengdoh’s last project, Because We Did Not Choose, is still waiting to be released.
When asked the minister hinted at the lack of enthusiasm among the men in the industry. “I had an informal dialogue with a few filmmakers and I had told them that they could start with the art and culture hall. I had asked them to come up with a proposal and submit an application in this regard. But that has not materialised. I will definitely support the endeavour but there should be a parallel enthusiasm,” says the minister.
About compulsory screening of local films, Lyngdoh says it is a feasible idea but “do we have the back-up for films to sustain the shows”?
The one theatre hall in the city that runs low-budget Khasi films is Bijou in Shillong. But there are a few takers. Krishan Goenka, owner of Bijou, says profit depends on the film. “I get 30 percent of whatever is earned from a film. There are three more Khasi films waiting to be released,” says Goenka.
Arvind Goenka, owner of Anjalee, says most Khasi films are not in the digital format and do not have the central censor board certificate and hence not eligible for theatre viewing. “Anjalee is the pioneer in promoting Khasi films. So why won’t we play local films now? But they should fulfil the criteria,” he adds.
Last year, the chief minister had promised to build cinemas for screening local movies but like other promises it too remains unfulfilled. “Other infrastructure like studios for indoor shoots, sound and editing laboratories with the latest technology are lacking. Availability of equipment is also a factor. The Government should invest in studios and equipment,” feels Shangpliang.
The MeFILMA head says local directors have to shell out money for using locations within the city and the association wants a breather from this.
With no film school in the State, availability of trained technicians and actors is another issue. Most of the directors and technicians are self-taught and only a few have done professional courses.
“There are technicians who can handle cameras and edit but there are not many people who are trained for the industry. This is why commercial Khasi filmmakers still rely on professionals from outside the State,” says Diengdoh who recently trained a team during the shooting of his film Kane.
There are, however, trained editors and talented actors, concedes Buam.
Sweety Pala, whose lead role in Onaatah earned her accolades, says there are indeed no trained actors but “we have rigorous practice sessions and workshops before facing the camera”.
“Another reason for such rigorous rehearsals is that our budget is always less and we cannot afford to go back to locations,” she explains.
Local actors here get little money and acting as a livelihood is not advisable.
Shankarlal Goenka, local businessman and veteran producer, criticises the Government for doing nothing to promote Khasi culture through cinema.
Incentives like subsidies to good quality Khasi movies and business houses to open new cinemas in stations like Jowai, Nongpoh and Nongstain will go a long way, feels Goenka. “The Government should also select and send local talents to institutes like FTII or open a film training centre in Shillong,” he says.
Though there is no one set of schemes for filmmakers, the Government “is not insensitive towards their demands and acknowledge good work and talent”.
“But there is a long-term requirement like institutes and a regular support system. In the given situation, there are several hurdles, like clearances from so many bodies, that we need to cross,” says Lyngdoh.
Dark knights
Piracy is eating into the profits of filmmakers and producers and killing local movies. The menace is so enormous that every filmmaker is a victim of it. Ballam Sangma, a Tura-based producer and filmmaker, rues that it becomes impossible for small directors to recover cost due to sell of duplicate CDs. “We cannot stop piracy and so we cannot recover our expenditure,” he says rather helplessly.
The rampant selling of pirated CDs is also keeping producers at bay. “The issue needs to be addressed by authorities concerned. It is the fear of making losses due to piracy that we cannot take up big projects even if we want to. Though we try to make people aware of the ill effects of piracy, we need help from the authorities, which has not come,” says Pnar filmmaker Riquom Laloo.
MeFILMA too discourages viewers from using pirated copies of local films and informs them about the consequences that directors and producers face.
“In this age of technology, one cannot stop piracy but it can surely be controlled if a film policy is put in place with regulations,” says Kurbah.
Another lacuna that many filmmakers feel should be cemented is lack of bonding in the fraternity. “We are not being able to bond as a community of filmmakers. Everyone has his own agenda to pursue. Mostly, it is self-interest that takes precedence and hence the film industry is not being able to grow as a movement,” points out Buam.
(With inputs from Chean Marak & Warmand Sangma)
(To be concluded next week)
