GUWAHATI: A Hindi feature film on the National Register of Citizens (NRC) is set to be released on OTT (over-the-top) platforms next month.
Directed by Mumbai-based filmmaker, Saif Baidya and produced by Vinay G. Rai, the film titled, Noise of Silence has been shot entirely in Tripura.
The film revolves primarily around the pain and struggle of a couple left out of the NRC list in Assam.
There is a parallel story as well about a Rohingya Muslim girl who enters India in search of her mother.
“The concept was conceived in 2017. This was on the Rohingya issue which was a widely-discussed topic and trending on social media at that time,” Baidya, 27, told The Shillong Times over phone from his hometown Siliguri on Thursday.
“However, the NRC part crossed my mind when my friend and assistant, Aditya Bhattacharjee revealed that he had to go to his home state of Assam frequently to appear in court as his name and that of his mother were excluded from the final NRC list published on August 31, 2019,” Baidya said on Thursday.
“Thereafter, I spoke to his mother and got to know about the struggle and pain people excluded from the NRC list had to undergo and face, at times for small errors and omissions. So the tales touched my heart and I decided to write the story and do a bit of research before making the film,” Baidya said.
Shot within 28 days only (ahead of the lockdown) from February 15, 2020, the film, which is of a duration of one hour and 50 minutes, features scenic locations such as Unakoti, Durgabari Tea Estate, Neermahal in Tripura (which shares a border with Bangladesh.
“The location was finalised after my friend and college senior, Joy Bhattacharya, who is from Tripura, sent me some beautiful pictures of places, not seen by many in the country before. We are also grateful to the chief minister of Tripura who helped us during the shoot,” he said.
The film centres on the couple, Sujoy Ghosh (role played by Firdaus Hassan) and Kanika Ghosh, their struggles and the rounds they have to make to the courts (foreigner tribunals) to prove their Indian citizenship as their names have been left out of the NRC.
The Rohingya girl, Muniba Zahidi is played by Pooja Jha.
“The film will surely touch the hearts of the audience. Everything about it is natural and in sync with the title. There is no violence shown,” Baidya, who has also directed short films and apart from another feature film, said.
The filmmaker said the initial plan was to release the film in the theatres in November. “But for the COVID-triggered lockdown, we will have to settle for a release on OTT platforms like Hotstar and Voot next month,” he said.