SHILLONG: The film industry in the state, which was making gradual and steady strides in the recent years, has taken a serious blow due to the COVID 19 pandemic, pushing film makers into uncertainty, and even depression, as they scout for alternative medium to reach the audience while struggling to eke out a livelihood.
The lack of government support for the film makers, especially during the lockdown, has further aggravated the problems for the film industry, which is still in its nascent stage in the state.
Eminent director Wanphrang Diengdoh admitted that the pandemic has impacted everyone’s livelihood as shooting has come to a halt within the state, and people from outside also cannot come to film here due to restrictions and quarantine rules.
On a positive note, he said that the lockdown has given the time to the artists to understand their craft better and hone their skills, adding that he was among the fortunate few who were not facing any financial crunch at the moment.
Director and producer, Commander Shangpliang, said while shooting and screening has been badly affected by the COVID 19 pandemic, exploring streaming through online platforms is also not easy for the local film makers due to piracy issues.
“We have many local films scheduled for release and producers have invested lakhs of rupees. But we are not being able to screen our movies either in the theater or in community halls,” he said.
Referring to his movie 9-Lad which was released on February 28, he said that the screening was initially halted due to Ichamati incident, and when it hit the theatres again by second week of March, lockdown was announced, leading to heavy losses for him.
Sweety Pala, a prominent actress who had turned producer with Lorni – The Flaneur that is awaiting release, said that the pandemic situation has thrown up additional problems, like means to reach the audience.
She said, “We were supposed to release our movie this year but we could not do so as all theaters are closed. The pandemic has hit us and we are looking for new medium to release our movies in the absence of any assistance from the Government.”
She added that the film-makers are now totally dependent on online platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime.
Acclaimed Khasi film Ri actor Melvin Mukhim pointed that film making is yet to establish itself as an ‘industry’ in the state, and hence, the current situation is unlikely to have a major impact in terms of loss of livelihood for a large section of people, barring a few producers/financers awaiting return on investment.
In his opinion, film making in the state has been more of entrepreneurial attempts by individuals with creative pursuits, either in self-financing mode or remaining dependent upon a few passionate individuals with financing ability.
However, if one were to consider the number of projects awaiting release and the reviews and audience recent Khasi and Jaintia films were drawing, a certain amount of impact of the present situation would be felt in the state.
Another budding film maker from Jaintia Hills , Simi Khongtiang, also admitted that the ‘situation is bad’ and she was even under depression for some time. The entire period has been a major challenge for many film makers like her in the state, Simi added.
