GUWAHATI: Sijou, a Bodo film, written and directed by city-based Vishal P. Chaliha, bagged four awards at the Golden Sparrow International Film Festival 2021 in Tamil Nadu.
The awards, announced on Monday night, include “Best Director”, Indian Feature Film, “Best Debut Filmmaker” of Feature Film”, “Best Screenplay Writer”, Indian feature film, and “Special jury award,” Indian feature film, an official statement said on Tuesday.
Produced by national award winning filmmakers, Preeyam Kherkatary Chaliha and Omprakash Kherkatary, Sijou is the only film from the Northeast to have bagged awards at the festival this year.
Categorised as a historical drama, the film revolves around a boy named Sijou, who lives in Saikhonguri, a village in Baksa near the Indo-Bhutan border. One day, the jolly good boy, who loves engaging in harmless pranks with friends, becomes the victim of the feudal land tenure system which was in practice in Bhutan till 1958. Gradually, his life takes drastic turns which eventually turn him into a monk.
The cinematography of the film has been done by Ashutosh Kashyap while sound designing has been done by one of the finest sound designers of Hindi cinema, Debajit Changmai.
The film’s music is composed by Dhrubajyoti Patgiri while Jyoti Shankar Bhattacharyyaa is the art director.
Shot in locations of Arunachal Pradesh, Manas National Park and Saikhonguri, Baksa, the film is slated to release by the end of 2021.
“It is a great privilege for me and the entire team to have bagged the awards,” the filmmaker said, adding that Cinemoi, one of the largest television networks and OTT platforms in the USA, would promote the film in America.