By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: Gangs of North East (GoNE), a romantic action thriller with actors picked up from across the North East, was released on Friday at Galleria Anjalee and in other states in the region.
Apart of the picturesque shots of the State and neighbouring Assam, the film also boasts of a story line that highlights the issues faced by the northeastern states.
It tells the tale of a college student, Margaret (Rewati Chetri), who tutored the sister of Ricky (Vivek Bora), a spoilt rich brat.
The movie brings together the past of their teacher (Zameer) played by Udayan Dwarah and Margaret’s mother who raised her single-handedly. Dwarah is nursing a revenge for the death of his girlfriend Diana (Fairy Ahmed) while Margaret’s mother is holding a secret from her daughter.
The movie is screening at Bijou cinema hall at 11 am and Galleria Anjalee at 2 pm.
Excerpts from the conversation of GoNE director Rupak Gogoi with The Shillong Times on Saturday:
Response of the movie in other states…
In Assam, the response is very good and in Meghalaya, we have been getting calls from people saying that the movie has surpassed their expectation. That is very good news for us.
Will the movie set a different standard for filmmaking in the North East?
We tried but journalists like you will tell us whether we have been successful or not. But yes, we have managed to keep the standard high so that people will see the difference between the movies that were happening till now and this one.
Our target was not to compete with local movies but we are trying to compete with movies that at least have Bollywood standard. We have limited budget and we try to do the best we can and I hope that people can see the difference.
Any plan to take it to mainland India?
Yes, we have plans to take it to mainland India but distribution is expensive as it will cost us around Rs 3-4 crore to release it all over India. We plan to go national in September depending on the kind of support we get from distributors and we are looking for support from the government.
) If they can help us go national, then the beauty of the North East can be seen by the entire country as well as the creative potential of the state.
What challenges did you face while making the movie?
The creative challenge was to get people from the seven states together. I was very lucky to have Kenny Lyngdoh as the producer. It was because of him we could get in touch with the other northeastern states as well as exploit the beautiful locales of Meghalaya.
Secondly, the problem was getting the people together because they spoke different languages. So we had to come to a common platform to direct the movie. As a director, it was a very difficult task for me.Thirdly, after the movie was completed, we ensured that the movie is technically very good and of high quality.
But releasing the movie across the country, which actually the film demands to do good business, the investment was a setback for us. Once the movie runs successfully here, we might be able to overcome the problems.
What is the story line?
The basic idea is to connect with the North East. You cannot make a story of which they are not familiar with. If we talk about a single mother or of an independent Khasi lady, the uniqueness of the North East… We have to make it interesting.
We made a story on a single mother and daughter in the backdrop of underground drug mafia activities. It is an interesting story, we kept it very regional and local.
Did you face any problems with the censor board?
I am happy to say that the censor board has been very supportive. With just one show the whole censor board said openly that they have found a good entertainer after a long time. They have congratulated me even before the movie was released.
Expectations from the movie…
My role is to ensure that when people come to watch the movie for two hours, they should go back with a sense of satisfaction thinking that they have spent their money in the right place.But the rest depends on marketing and distribution, on how far can awareness be brought and how it can be made easily accessible to all viewers.
Is directing movies a risky affair?
There is a line in Bollywood which goes, “A director is as good as his last movie,” no matter how many previous hits you may have, if your last movie is not a hit or is not accepted and whether you are Subhash Ghai or Karan Johar…it does not matter, you are as good as your last movie.
I believe in that and professionally we should try our best as directors to deliver the best movie possible.
Acting of the casts of the movie…
I am grateful that the casting of the movie has been perfect. People who have seen the movie actually forget that they are watching a movie and that the characters are not real. It is about trying to believe what is not true and I think we have been successful in doing that.