'Jahnu Barua lives his own characters'
Anshuman Barua, a young Assamese filmmaker, talks to Prasanta Mazumdar about the auteur who is an inspiration to a generation of filmmakers in the state
With nine national awards to his name, Jahnu Barua is a legend. The Assamese filmmaker shot to fame with his third film, Halodhia Charaye Baodhan Khai that fetched him the National Award for the Best Film in 1988 and several international awards. Today, he is literally a household name in Assam and inspiration to an entire generation of young filmmakers.
"Jahnu Barua has carved out a unique space for himself in the Assamese film industry. There are not many who can reach the benchmark he has set. His films are above box-office calculations — they make the audience sit up and think. Each film is a movement in itself. That's truly inspiring for someone like me," Anshuman Barua, a young Assamese filmmaker, says.
Anshuman gave up civil engineering to become a filmmaker, and assisted Barua for five years on films such as Pokhi, Konikar Ramdhenu and a documentary on the river Brahmaputra, The Quest For The Brahmaputra.
Anshuman says he is enchanted by Barua's approach to filmmaking. "He never makes a film for the sake of making it. The idea is not to pick a subject that works; the subject instead comes from within. It's a part of him, as you can make out from the characters."
Anshuman says Barua knows each and every character of his films inside out — their dressing sense, mannerisms, body language and accent. He is meticulous about how a character pronounces or even mispronounces a particular word, right down to how his characters would behave when drunk. He is a rare filmmaker who lives his own characters, Anshuman says.
"A famous fact about Barua is that he himself cuts the hair of his characters on sets and, sometimes, even the crew. There was a time when I sported long hair. But I would always keep a safe distance whenever I saw him with a pair of scissors in his hands," Anshuman quips.
He says all of Barua's films leave an impact on the society, whether Firingoti or Halodhiya Choraiye Baodhan Khai. In Firingoti, a school teacher stood up against all odds to build a school in a village and eventually succeeded in changing the mindset of people on the need of modern education. Halodhiya Choraiye Baodhan Khai portrays the plight of a poor farmer exploited by the mahajan (money lender) of the village.
Anshuman says his personal favourite is Hkhagoroloi Bohu Door (It's a Long Way to the Sea) in which Barua dealt with the subject of development versus livelihood. A boatman Puwal, who lives with his orphaned grandson, ekes out a living from his ancestral profession of ferrying people across the river in a small village. But then development manifests in the form of construction of a bridge across the river, that takes away his livelihood. Anshuman says the film portrays the plight of the boatman by using development as a ticking time-bomb. The film culminates in a scene where one night, the boatman steps out of his house under the cover of darkness and tries to pull down the bridge with an axe.
"This conflict between development and livelihood continues in our society. Most of Barua's films portray the rural and ethnic life of Assam, yet they are universal in nature," Anshuman sums up.
Anshuman Barua, a young Assamese filmmaker, talks to Prasanta Mazumdar about the auteur who is an inspiration to a generation of filmmakers in the state
With nine national awards to his name, Jahnu Barua is a legend. The Assamese filmmaker shot to fame with his third film, Halodhia Charaye Baodhan Khai that fetched him the National Award for the Best Film in 1988 and several international awards. Today, he is literally a household name in Assam and inspiration to an entire generation of young filmmakers."Jahnu Barua has carved out a unique space for himself in the Assamese film industry. There are not many who can reach the benchmark he has set. His films are above box-office calculations — they make the audience sit up and think. Each film is a movement in itself. That's truly inspiring for someone like me," Anshuman Barua, a young Assamese filmmaker, says.
Anshuman gave up civil engineering to become a filmmaker, and assisted Barua for five years on films such as Pokhi, Konikar Ramdhenu and a documentary on the river Brahmaputra, The Quest For The Brahmaputra.
Anshuman says he is enchanted by Barua's approach to filmmaking. "He never makes a film for the sake of making it. The idea is not to pick a subject that works; the subject instead comes from within. It's a part of him, as you can make out from the characters."
Anshuman says Barua knows each and every character of his films inside out — their dressing sense, mannerisms, body language and accent. He is meticulous about how a character pronounces or even mispronounces a particular word, right down to how his characters would behave when drunk. He is a rare filmmaker who lives his own characters, Anshuman says.
"A famous fact about Barua is that he himself cuts the hair of his characters on sets and, sometimes, even the crew. There was a time when I sported long hair. But I would always keep a safe distance whenever I saw him with a pair of scissors in his hands," Anshuman quips.
He says all of Barua's films leave an impact on the society, whether Firingoti or Halodhiya Choraiye Baodhan Khai. In Firingoti, a school teacher stood up against all odds to build a school in a village and eventually succeeded in changing the mindset of people on the need of modern education. Halodhiya Choraiye Baodhan Khai portrays the plight of a poor farmer exploited by the mahajan (money lender) of the village.
Anshuman says his personal favourite is Hkhagoroloi Bohu Door (It's a Long Way to the Sea) in which Barua dealt with the subject of development versus livelihood. A boatman Puwal, who lives with his orphaned grandson, ekes out a living from his ancestral profession of ferrying people across the river in a small village. But then development manifests in the form of construction of a bridge across the river, that takes away his livelihood. Anshuman says the film portrays the plight of the boatman by using development as a ticking time-bomb. The film culminates in a scene where one night, the boatman steps out of his house under the cover of darkness and tries to pull down the bridge with an axe.
"This conflict between development and livelihood continues in our society. Most of Barua's films portray the rural and ethnic life of Assam, yet they are universal in nature," Anshuman sums up.
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