Semkhor, A nationwide award profitable movie From Assam, members of the Dimasa group alleged that their tradition was portrayed in a fallacious method, and aimed toward inflicting “emotional hurt”.
A tribal chief has filed a grievance in opposition to filmmaker Amy Barua at Haflong police station, whereas a number of native organizations have issued statements condemning the movie.
Barua, who performs the lead function, mentioned that she had clearly acknowledged that it was a fictional work.
Semkhor, set within the localities of a village that additionally goes by the identical identify, is the primary Dimasa-language movie.
The 2021 movie, which narrates the life and instances of a lady from the tribe, was awarded the Rajat Kamal on the 68th National Film Awards, in addition to Barua receiving a Special Jury Mention. After garnering reward and accolades at numerous nationwide and worldwide movie festivals, the movie was launched commercially final week.
Mahendra Kemparai, former president of the All Dimasa Students’ Union, mentioned in a just lately filed grievance that whereas the group welcomes its illustration on the large display, the “misrepresentation” stays a priority. Kemprai alleged that the director didn’t research the group in depth and used the little info he collected for industrial achieve. He claimed that the feminine feticide depicted within the movie was not dedicated by the group, and that Dimas was proven in a “poor light”. The former scholar chief demanded that “objectionable scenes be removed” from the movie after session with group specialists.
The Dimasa Mothers’ Association additionally, in a press assertion, condemned the “wrong projection of female feticide”, claiming that it was “factually incorrect” and “unjust” for the group to apply such evil. It claimed that there was no gender discrimination inside the group. The All Dimasa Students’ Union in a separate assertion termed the alleged misrepresentation as an “attack on our identity, with the aim of causing emotional hurt to our community”. Sangh president Uttam Langthasa claimed that social evils like feminine feticide have been by no means dedicated by Dimas.
Speaking to PTI, Baruah mentioned, “The disclaimer at the beginning of the film clearly mentions it as a fiction based on the scenario of Dima Hasao. Our intention was to promote it for the development of the region.” “I’m able to face any criticism, but it surely must be primarily based on info. Most of those that search to create this controversy haven’t even gone to mattress.
The actor-turned-director underlined that the movie was a couple of ladies’s battle, which was common in nature, and the portrayal would stay the identical even when it was set in a distinct village or metropolis. “I had set my story in Semkhor as a result of I wished to advertise this sector in order that growth might attain them rapidly. It is a village of 422 individuals. Two years in the past, after I final got here, there was no electrical energy or web connection.
“For a movie to draw consideration, it wants some form of leisure, and that is why I woven a narrative and set it in Semkhor. If I wished to current Semkhor’s life and folks as it’s Had I, I’d have made a documentary, however then how many individuals would have seen it,” she mentioned.
Barua mentioned he had no intention of wounding anybody along with his work. “I’m emotionally hooked up to Semkhor now. It was by no means my intention to harm anybody. I need individuals to observe the movie after which sit for debate.”
With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
