Filmmaker Jahnu Barua has never shied away from portraying reality and will continue doing so. He chats with Divya Kaushik about getting inspired by Guru Dutt’s CID, the first film he watched as a child and his penchant for human stories
Jahnu Barua or Jahnu Da (as he is fondly addressed) is a simple, contended man, happy in his own space. He detests gimmicks and confesses that they make him “uncomfortable.” He feels proud that for a long time he only made films in Assamese and highlighted issues of his region. It is thanks to him that the new breed of filmmakers from Assam is forthcoming to make films about their land and in their own language. The success of his films worldwide and international recognition has set an example for them. His film Baandhon, inspired by the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, was the first Assamese film to be commercially screened outside the state. Recently, Barua’s Ajeyo was released with English subtitles in Mumbai, Delhi, Pune and Bengaluru by PVR Director’s Rare. It can be a huge accomplishment for any other filmmaker, but Barua is a man on a mission who only feels happy about the fact that all this is encouraging young filmmakers to come up with “content-oriented” films. “In the last few years, regional cinema has been getting a lot of appreciation and recognition. This appreciation is encouraging young people from Assam to make films highlighting issues and concerns of their region. The young filmmakers from Assam are a talented lot and with the advent of digital technology they are in the process of creating films with local issues,” says Barua.
But funding and obstacles in distribution chain are the problems that filmmakers are still struggling with. Though some big studios claim that they have started extending support to regional filmmaker, northeast still is not a part of their list. “Unfortunately no big studio comes to support the production process of Assamese film or any other northeastern films. The reason is that the market in the northeast is too small for any studio to get desired returns. Second, there is ignorance when it comes to northeast. Not many are interested in the kind of work that is being done there. Therefore, at a personal level I have been persuading the local government to stand in support of the filmmakers. Without government’s support the film industry in the northeast will never grow. The only positive factor in recent times has been the revival of Assam State Film Finance & Development Corporation (ASFFDC), which has started providing finance and logistics to filmmakers resulting into a much wanted regular production of films,” informs Barua.
like most of his earlier films, even Ajeyo reflects Gandhian values. It is based on an award winning Assamese novel Ashirbador Rong. It is the story of Gojen Keot, who fought against the social evils in rural Assam during the freedom movement in India. Set in a small village of Assam in 1946, Gojen, an honest but short-tempered man, supports Gandhi and believes that once India becomes independent, social injustice will end. However, when things are far from better, Gojen protests the richest man in town, who sees India’s partition as an opportunity for land-grabbing. Thus begins Gojen’s struggle for freedom and equality in Independent India. Barua says that as a filmmaker he feels it is his duty to bring to light the values we have forgotten today. He adds, “I have always felt that Gandhi and Gandhian values have never been introduced in true sense to the post Independence generations. In modern India people have hardly got to understand their importance. As a result this country is suffering on many fronts specially on matters that deal with the younger generation. My understanding of Gandhian values occasionally reflects in my films.”
The filmmaker feels that though the number of films on social issues has gone up, but the audience still prefers commercial cinema.
He says, “As far as appreciation for good films is concerned there is not much improvement, and it is the case of entire country. People are more prone to the usual commercial stuff. The problem is not with the audience. The problem is how much quality stuff we make in our country. We produce the largest number of films in the world but in content quality we hardly figure — not even 10 per cent of it. A filmmaker cannot and must not shy away from social issues mainly because he himself is a part of the society. I come from a rural village in Assam and society is very important for me. I try to encourage and inspire my audience to be more human and universal. Accordingly I choose social issues for my films and there are many in every region.” After Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara, Barua stayed away from Hindi films for a long time. His next Hindi film, Har Pal, which was a love story featuring Shiney Ahuja and Preity Zinta, was canned because of Shiney Ahuja’s legal case and it never saw the light of the day. But he says he is working on a few Hindi films now.
“I will always continue to make film in Assamese but I do not set barriers for myself. The recognition and awards have inspired me to do more. I think, over the years, my films have created a sizable audience,” he says.Barua reminisces that the first film he saw as a child under the open sky was Guru Dutt’s CID, “then some Assamese and Hindi films to follow. The childhood experience has surely made me inquisitive about cinema — but not enough to make me dream of becoming a filmmaker one day. That urge came much later. I can’t name a particular filmmaker who has inspired me in my journey, there have been many films by great filmmakers. I am inspired by any story that talks about humanity.”