By Willie Gordon Suting
For the first time, an actor of international repute will be starring in a Khasi feature film, which is coincidentally a first for documentary filmmaker Wanphrang Diengdoh.
Diengdoh’s Lorni, or “flaneur” in English, will have Adil Hussain in the lead role.
The writer and director, whose last film ‘Because We Did Not Choose’ focus on the role of Khasi soldiers in World War II, says Lorni is about things of cultural value that are disappearing from Shillong, where the main protagonist is being made to investigate the disappearances.
“The idea had fermented in my head for these last eight or nine years. I first started visualizing it as a graphic novel. And then came fine tuning to transform it into a story,” says Diengdoh.
When asked about the plot, Diengdoh, diverted this brief explainer. The film is in all the languages that one can hear in Shillong. Hussain and Diengdoh recently conducted a workshop for training selected actors at Bissau College.
The 33-year-old director says such training is vital both for the experienced and less-experienced cast.
Hussain trained the actors to be as realistic as possible during shooting. “My central philosophy is how not to act but learn to act and not to behave. This is because acting is known as not being true,” says the 54-year-old actor, who received Special Jury Award at the 2017 National Film Awards for role in Mukti Bhawan and Maj Rati Keteki.
The setting of Lorni is Shillong, where some sequences are informed by the old theatre tradition of the city and Jowai. The shooting will start from second week of July.
Hussain says he had read a lot of scripts but Diengdoh’s story caught his attention. “It was very intriguing giving me space to imagine. It was rich in ambiguity with complete non-judgementalness,” says Hussain.
A script is a reflection of the thematic vision of the writer and “I feel proud to be part of this project sharing creative ideas with Diengdoh”, he adds.
The workshop facilitates actors, both experienced and new. Hussain is also an accomplished Acting Professor in Royal Conservative Performing Arts in Holland, National School of Drama and Poona Film Institute.
The workshop was in three sessions, which included meditation, breathing exercises and understanding the body.
Shillong-based thespian Lapdiang Syiem says the sessions gave a vivid idea about film acting, which is “all about realism and realistic acting”.
“We did a lot of exercises with the body, mind, psychology of the characters. Adil Hussain has always been one of the best mentors that I’ve ever had,” says Syiem.
The actors who have been selected are between 24 and 60 years of age. While some are working professionals others are still studying. Diengdoh says except one person, no one has any experience in acting in a film, “which is perfect because that means the rest do not come with a certain baggage of what acting is supposed to mean”.
Randall Nongkhlaw, who will face the camera for the first time, says the workshop made him realise that film acting is more than just delivering a few dialogues.
“As an artist, I’ve really benefited from it (the workshop)… It made me realise that there’s more to understanding our roles and the script. I’m thankful for this opportunity and excited for the film,” says Nongkhlaw.
Elizer Bareh, who has experience on the stage, says, “This workshop with Adil Hussain has been a great pleasure. We hardly get opportunities for acting workshops in Shillong and I feel blessed to be part of this and getting to learn from such an accomplished actor.”
Diengdoh believes films can influence and shape society to make people question realities and become more aware beings. “Lorni is informed by my documentary work. It is a creative treatment of condensing everyday stories in a frame.”
When asked about funding from the government, Diengdoh says, “There has been no funding but we are hopeful that they will be interested.”
Diengdoh feels it is important for the film industry to grow and progress in the state. “As you know, it caters to a wide range of talent from music to set design etc. And most of our musicians can earn through it. We should also create centres where communities can discuss films and art.”
