The cinema of the Indian Northeast has been said to be a cinema of underdevelopment. Since the economy of this region is not going anywhere, it is natural to expect that cinema, which is basically an industrial-scientific activity, would be in a similar state of atrophy. It comes as a surprise, therefore, that this region produces some of the best documentaries and feature films in the country.
The record proves it. Only 10 feature films were produced in the Northeast in 1995 and 1996, yet seven of them were selected for the prestigious Indian Panorama Section of the International Film Festival of India of those two years. The range and depth of Northeastern cinema was proved once again at "Unveiling the Northeast", a festival held at New Delhi's India International Centre (IIC) from 15 to 22 April.
Unpretentious presentation seems to be the underlying characteristic of these Northeast films. The story-lines, while typically regional ("local"), tend to have universal appeal, which is probably why they have been appreciated at international venues. Some connoisseurs have even compared the Northeast's output with the fine cinema that emerges from the unlikely Sub-Saharan state of Burkina Faso.
The realism that is the true hallmark of films from this part of India is primarily the legacy of one person Jyotiprasad Agarwalla. In the late 1920s, Mr Agarwalla was trained in the famous UFA studio in Germany, and his cinematic approach belonged to the Soviet and German schools of realism. So, when in 1935 he made Joymoti, the first Assamese film, he did not follow the theatrical style of acting, painted faces, and glossy costumes, which were the common features of Indian cinema of the day. "Though the work ended as a failure, both technically and financially, it helped lay a different path for our Northeast films," says the elderly director today. The directors who followed Mr Agarwalla to this day prove him right.