A young boy crosses over into Myanmar, sparked by his mother’s hurt and his curiosity about his missing father. Boong—the coming-of-age Manipuri language film—is a heartening story of quest, discovery, learning and acceptance of the unexpected realities of life.
Produced by Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani’s Excel Entertainment, Boong recently won the Best Children and Family Film category feature in this year’s British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA). It is the first Indian film ever to win an award in this category.
Women in Manipur have historically held a high status and are renowned for their collective strength. Expectedly, there is a woman behind Boong’s success – filmmaker Lakshmipriya Devi, who made her directorial debut with this film.
The award was like a breath of fresh air in a state ravaged by the Meitei-Kuki violent ethnic conflict that claimed over 260 lives and displaced an estimated 60,000 others. For Manipuri cinema and Indian filmmaking, it was a watershed moment.
Speaking at the award ceremony last Sunday, Lakshmipriya made an emotional appeal for peace in Manipur. “The walk up till here felt like the last few steps to reach a summit of a mountain we never knew we were climbing in the first place. Thank you to the jury members and BAFTA for giving our very small film such big love – a film that is rooted in a place which is very troubled, very much ignored and very underrepresented in India. It’s a homage to my homeland, Manipur,” Lakshmipriya said.
“I just want to use this opportunity to say that we pray for peace to return to Manipur. We pray that all the internally displaced children, including the child actors in the film, regain their joy, innocence and dream…Thank you, BAFTA, for giving us not only an award but this stage to express our hope,” she further stated in her brief yet powerful speech.
Incidentally, Boong’s shooting completed just about a week before the ethnic violence erupted on May 3, 2023. The film was set largely in the Imphal valley and partly in the India-Myanmar border town of Moreh. People cutting across communities had come together during its making. Boong is a Meitei character played by a Kuki boy, Gugun Kipgen. He pairs up with his best friend Raju from Rajasthan (played by Meitei boy Angom Sanamatum). The two launch a search for Boong’s father in Moreh, which leads to Myanmar, and a harsh reality.
The film narrates the child’s emotional journey and resilience as he seeks to reunite his broken family, driven by the innocent belief that it would be the best thing that he could do to make her mother happy. The film’s greatest strength lies in its authentic setting.
Reel life apart, Boong, nay Gugun Kipgen, in real life is among those displaced by the ethnic violence. His family left Imphal for Kangpokpi, a Kuki-majority district, in the early days of the conflict. As for Moreh where border trade once thrived, the local Meitei residents found refuge in relief camps, which are miles away in Imphal.
“…Boong could well be the last documentation of Moreh…We all had come together during its making. It is heartbreaking that it might never be the same again,” Lakshmipriya had reportedly stated two years ago amid the ethnic conflict.
Born and raised in Imphal, she had moved to a boarding school in Delhi after the tenth grade. Over time, she earned a post-graduate degree in Mass Communication. She first worked as an assistant director in Farhan Akhtar’s “Lakshya” (2004).
Manipuris are celebrating Boong’s success. Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh said Lakshmipriya’s victory exemplified her commitment to impactful filmmaking.
Manipur has had a history of producing critically acclaimed films. In 1982, Aribam Syam Sharma’s classic “Imagi Ningthem” had won the Grand Prix at the Festival des 3 Continents in France.
“The journey of Manipuri cinema has never been about glamour but about survival with dignity,” said Sunzu Bachaspatimayum, speaking not merely as the secretary of Manipur State Film
Development Society but also as a witness to decades of perseverance.
He also stated that when Imagi Ningthem won the Grand Prix, it was a historic moment for the Indian regional cinema, for it proved that a small language film could command global attention and respect.
“When ‘Ishanou’ stood at Cannes as an ‘Uncertain Regard’ in 1992 and later returned to Cannes Classics after restoration in 2023, it affirmed that Manipuri storytelling possessed both artistic depth and enduring cultural value. And now, with Boong earning international acclaim, we see the continuation of that legacy. These were not accidents; they were milestones that placed Manipuri cinema firmly within the larger history of Indian cinema,” he further stated.