Mumbai, March 9 The BAFTA award for her Manipuri language film "Boong" serves as a reminder to the world about a place called Manipur, and it is now up to audiences to "carry that knowledge forward," says Lakshmipriya Devi, adding disarmingly that she now wants to "step back from the limelight."
"Boong," about a young boy searching for his father in the conflict-torn state of Manipur, is the first Indian film to win an award at the BAFTA gala, organized annually in London by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA). The 2024 coming-of-age drama was announced as the winner in the Best Children’s and Family Film category last month.
Although the film came about relatively easily, post-production took a long time due to the tensions in the northeastern state, grappling with societal polarization and political unrest, she said.
"I couldn't edit the film for a very long time. Every time I would see the footage, I would get overwhelmed. Knowing that the entire second half of the film was shot in places that were now in ruins... it deeply affected me. It took me a couple of months before I could objectively look at the footage," Lakshmipriya told
The filmmaker, who grew up in Imphal, is still coming to terms with the incredible win and the moment she achieved it. It still feels surreal.
"I was in a state of shock. The only thing I could think was, 'Oh my God, this is amazing. How much will it cost?'" she laughed.
And because she is a low-budget director, Lakshmipriya says she hasn't yet experienced that "Wow, something has changed" feeling.
"I'm still the same. In fact, I want to step back from the spotlight after this and not let it consume me," she said.
"With film festivals like BAFTA, at least the first step of awareness has been created, which is like giving people the idea that, 'Hey, there's a place called Manipur, and films like this exist outside of mainstream Bollywood,'" she explained. "But beyond that, it's up to the audience to take that knowledge and apply it."
The filmmaker says it takes her a long time to process things.
"Once we got back, there's been a constant rush of work, so I haven't had a moment to myself. I think that's when it will really hit me," the director said.
In her acceptance speech at the awards gala, Lakshmipriya chose to highlight the suffering of people in her home state. "The journey to get here felt like reaching the summit of a mountain we never knew we were climbing," she said. "I just want to use this opportunity to say that we pray for peace to return to Manipur."
Set against the racial tensions of Manipur, her film follows Boong, a resilient schoolboy determined to bring his absent father home to surprise his mother.
Produced by Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani's Excel Entertainment, it stars Gugun Kipgen and Bala Hijam in the lead roles.
It was the only Indian film nominated at the awards and beat international competition from other nominees "Lilo and Stitch," "Arco," and "Zootopia 2" to win the trophy.
Lakshmipriya, niece of the renowned Manipuri writer MK Binodini Devi, has been working in the Hindi film industry since the early 2000s as an assistant director on Excel Entertainment's movies like “Luck by Chance,” “Lakshya,” “Talaash,” Rajkumar Hirani's “PK,” and others.
A major catalyst for “Boong,” which the director described as a “deeply personal movie,” was her grandfather’s yearning for his father who lived in exile in Myanmar.
She said she would often write her thoughts about her grandfather's stories in a journal. Since she lacked confidence in her English, she gave up the idea of writing a book.
“I was writing it to get it out of my system. Since I had worked in films as an assistant director, the story became a script, and that's how, by chance, this film came about. It was like, ‘Let me try it,’ because it was such a deeply personal story, and I couldn't give it to anyone else to direct,” the filmmaker said.
She narrated the idea to a producer friend, Vikesh Bhutani, who was then working at Excel Entertainment. Bhutani liked it, and that's how Farhan Akhtar, Ritesh Sidhwani, and Chalkboard Entertainment came on board.
“I didn’t have a dramatic struggle story. It might sound unbelievable, but there was no torturous drama,” she said.
"Boong" explores themes of love, discrimination, and belonging through the emotional cross-border journey of the child.
“…I was thinking that since I won’t get another chance (to direct a film), so I wanted to say everything I wanted to say – my experiences, my thoughts on friendship, discrimination, closure, and new beginnings – is in this film,” she said.
The director, who admires filmmakers like Sai Paranjpye, insists the film is not intentionally "political."
“This is not a political film. It’s the story of a boy who lives in a place where these kinds of things happen… If someone thinks it’s political, that’s their perspective,” she said.
Recalling the making of the film, Lakshmipriya said the cast and crew comprised different ethnicities from Manipur and maintained a “spirit of community” after the conflict began.
Despite the international acclaim, Devi is in no hurry to capitalize on her BAFTA win. Currently based in Mumbai, she plans to celebrate with her crew and eventually travel home to watch the film with the team and the locals in Manipur.
Are there any plans for a follow-up film?
“They (the people and fans) shouldn’t wait. I’ll make a film only when I feel strongly about something,” was her candid reply.
“I like doing things at my own pace. If I don’t have something to say, I won’t. Directing cannot be just a job for me; it has to remain a passion. For a job, I’ll do assistant directing to pay rent,” she said.
Her immediate plans are far quieter: sleep, read books by her favorite authors, including George Orwell and Arundhati Roy's “Mother Mary Comes to Me”, and take up scheduling jobs.
"Boong" had a limited theatrical release in September last year. Buoyed by its BAFTA win, the film is being re-released this Friday.
