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How Manipuri film 'Lady of the Lake' is winning rave reviews in Australia

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Suhani Singh
Suhani SinghDec 01, 2017 | 12:38

How Manipuri film 'Lady of the Lake' is winning rave reviews in Australia

India had a great showing at the recently concluded Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) in Brisbane, Australia. Newton, India’s entry for the foreign language category at the Academy Awards, returned with two prizes: best actor (Rajkummar Rao) and best screenplay prize (Amit Masurkar and Mayank Tewari). That wasn’t all.

Another independent effort which was feted was Manipuri filmmaker Haobam Paban Kumar’s National Award-winning film Lady of the Lake. Given a special mention for the Cultural Diversity Award under the patronage of UNESCO, the drama follows the fraught life of a husband and wife residing in a rickety makeshift hut built on floating biomass in Loktang Lake, which is 40km away from Imphal.

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Kumar first made a documentary, Floating Life (2014) about the problems the inhabitants of Loktang Lake face and their battle with government authorities who constantly threaten eviction. The stunning but trying landscape left enough of an impression that he revisited it this time to shoot a feature.

Kumar chose to shoot with the locals so as to get a realistic portrait and a compelling drama about fears of displacement and homelessness. “After the documentary we had the support of all the Loktang people which was really important (to shoot the film). They believed in me.” Working with non-actors meant that the schedule was adjusted according to their work which is fishing. “We had to depend on the people,” added Kumar.

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Shooting on the boat and living on the hut was anything but easy for Kumar’s batchmates of the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute. “It was very difficult to live on floating mass. More than four people it becomes too heavy and the water comes up,” he said. “Everybody was paid very less. Everybody wanted to do something new.” Shot for 15 days on mostly solar charged battery lights with a crew of seven members, the crew was largely confined to the water body given the shore was an hour away by boat (motorboats don’t run for most of the residents have spread nets underwater).

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Apart from being a marital drama in which the wife toils and grapples with her husband’s laziness and disturbed emotional state, it also vividly captures the man vs nature conflict which resulted in the National Award for best film on environment conservation. Lady of the Lake, said Kumar, is his way of examining his cultural roots and shine a light on his state.

“Cinema is about feelings and the way it connects with people,” he said. “A lot of people told me that the film is not very logical, that it should be realistic. But then for me believing is real. We really need to look at our cultural values and belief system.”

(Courtesy of Mail Today)

Last updated: December 01, 2017 | 12:38
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