Barnes Mawrie
Khasi movies are gradually becoming popular among the Khasi-Pnar people. Movies like Onaatah or Manik Raitong have even grabbed national and international attention. It is a pride for the Khasi community that such quality movies are being produced from time to time. Movies belong to the narrative culture which is very much part of tribal culture here. So many famous myths and legends of the ancient world like the Illiad and Odyssey, Mahabharata and Ramayana etc, have been made popular today through the celluloid world. These ancient stories have survived, nay they have become well known today, thanks to the audio-visual culture. Our tribal communities have a lot of myths and legends, stories and folktales which could be lost or fade away from memory if they are not perpetuated through the audio-visual media. Therefore the art of making movies is so important today in order to preserve and popularize our rich narrative heritage. I wish that one day, our local film producers would be able to produce movies or even animated pictures of fine stories like Ka Iewluri Lura, U Adadak, Ka Rangli, etc.
I would say that there are many local film producers who are willing to commit themselves to this cause and who are very talented as well, however what deters them from doing this is the lack of financial support. Making a movie as we all know, involves a lot of expense which our local producers are not able to shoulder. I am told that when a Khasi movie is produced, the producer has to look for halls to screen the movie. The theatre halls owners usually charge a lot of money for rental. Sometimes 50% of the income generated has to be doled out to the theatre owners. Imagine if a good movie generates 20 lakh rupees, half of that goes to hall rental, another half of the amount would definitely go for payment of the artists. So actually what the producer gets back is a pittance. This is the reason why most local producers give up after one or two attempts. It is a very discouraging exercise where the movie director and producer run into debts. There are three reasons why local film producing faces problems:
First of all there is lack of government financial support. This has been the constant complaint of these producers from time to time. Just a few years ago, we knew that the Meghalaya Government doled out a huge sum of money to the Bollywood team who had shot the movie Rock On 3 in the State. Sad to say, when local film producers approach the government, they get only empty promises. Bollywood film producers have tonnes of money and so why should our government fund their project. It is the local producers who really need financial support. If the government were to help them, film industry in the state would have thrived considerably.
Secondly, our state lacks good theatre halls where local movies could be screened. As of today, it looks like only one hall in Shillong is willing to screen Khasi movies and that too at a great price. Actually, every district headquarter in the state should have a good theatre hall to provide possibility for wider screening of local movies. As far as I know, the government is constructing a gigantic hall in Mawkasiang as part of a particular project related to arts and culture. I believe that it would also serve the purpose of screening local movies in the coming years. But more such halls are needed in rural areas where local movies are more appreciated.
Thirdly, it would be good for the promotion of local movies if the government’s Department of Art and Culture could set up or help interested groups to initiate a full-fledged movie studio with all the hi-tech equipment for movie making. Local film makers could have access to these facilities on a rental basis. It would not be a bad idea if the government or some rich business magnates take up the construction of a film city on a limited scale so as to facilitate film production in the state. Considering the fact that the natural beauty of our state is already an attraction in itself, to have such a film city like the Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad, would make our state an enviable location for movie producers of the country. In this manner, tourism could further develop and the economy of the state would be enhanced.
All said and done, what I wish to emphasize in this article is that we need to act collectively to promote local cinema because it is a powerful way of preserving and promoting our rich cultural heritage. The local people need to appreciate their indigenous movies and find ways and means to promote them. The government is the best agent to carry this project forward so as to showcase the cultural richness of our state to the outside world.