SYAM SHARMA : SEARCH FOR ROOTS

Interviewed by Pradip Phanjoubam *

Manipuri cinema is barely 25 years old but it has already made its mark in the country's film world, thanks largely to the brilliance and dedicaton of one man, Aribam Syam Sharma. Thanks also largely to his brilliance and the example he set, a crop of young and talented filmmakers of the state have started walking the track he cut abandoning the prevalent trend of making commercial films in the bollywood genre.

Syam Sharma, whose latest feature film, "Sanabi" (The Grey Horse) created quite a stir in the national media is very clear about his choice." Our Nascent Cinema has no future as imitations of Bombay films. The people will always prefer the original" he said carefully avoiding the term film-industry as "Ours is not an industry as yet. Even the state owned Manipur Film Development Corporation comes under the art and culture department".

"As for me, its a conscious choice to stay far away from the popular commercial type. I am true to my art and my cinema is a natural extension of the unique culture, history and the ancient civilization of Manipur". The director said, "The genius of the Manipuri people is not suited for the commercial variety".

"A look at our history and culture tells us loud and clear that we are a people who cannot do without expressing ourselves. Look at our dances, look at the Lai Haraoba festival, we have preserved our whole philosophy, our cosmology, our conception of creation itself in our performing art and music. It is also through our dances and music that we have been educating generation after generation of our children about our relationship with the cosmos".

He said, "We must not lament that our films are not commercial hits. It is only by looking within ourselves and discovering the greatness and strength of our own roots that we can make an impact in the competitive film world." He said.

In any case there is not much of a choice for the filmmakers in Manipur. With a small population of less than two million, which is also multicultural and multi-linguistic, the chances for Manipuri films hitting the jackpot from the box office is a far cry.

"As for an audience outside the state, we can only hope to get some by being different from the mainstream films, " said another young and upcoming filmmaker in the state, Oken Amakcham, one of whose films have made it to the Indian panorama section of the IFFI.

But it is Syam Sharma, the patriach of Manipuri cinema who put the argument forward with conviction and eloquence, " We must take pride in oar roots. For our cinema is a medium for communication and not commerce," he said.

"However, I do not mean that we should not at all learn from other cultures. We must. The only thing is, in doing so we must not forget or forsake our own distinctive character. Look at the Vaishnavism that we follow. It is not Vaishnavism in to that we have inherited, it has a Manipuri brand on it. It has been the same in other walks of our lives. It must be the same in our films also."

He said." Perhaps it is a boon in disguise that we have been forced to be original." He said as an afterthought.

In the recently held IFFI 1996 at New Delhi, two of Syam Sharma's films, a documentary (Yelhou Jagoi) and a feature film (Sanabi) found entry and received accolades from the media as well as critics, despite the unseemly row over the shabby treatment meted out to four directors from the Northeast by the festival organiasrs.

The National Film Development Corporation Limited has formally asked for the marketing as well as the festival participation rights for "Yelhou Jagoi". The Corporation has also asked for a preview of the director's past films and documentaries.