Host: Arshia Dhar
Theme Music and Editing: Sourjyo Sinha
Artwork: Adrija Ghosh / Sourish Mustafi
CiNEmatters, a podcast by Firstpost, is your definitive guide to cinema from the North East of India. In the age of OTT, when entertainment in languages from across India and the world is just a click away on our screens, the same cannot be said about cinema from the North East. But why?
Through this podcast, Firstpost attempts to investigate the ‘why’ — a question that does not have an easy answer — with guests, as we discuss a film from the North East, available for viewing online, in every episode. We tell you where you can find some of the best films from the North East of India, and what all we have been missing out on culturally and sociopolitically by not watching and discussing them as much as we should have.
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Episode 1: 'Jwlwi: The Seed' (2019)
Language/Region: Bodo/Assam
Streaming on: Moviesaints
Director: Rajni Basumatary
Cast: Rajni Basumatary, Shimang Chainary, Queen Hazarika, Sattyakee Dcom Bhuyan, Jayanta Narzary, Kanyakorn Kiratichotiyangkoon
In our first episode, we are joined by our guest Kaustubh Deka, professor of political science at Assam's Dibrugarh University, to talk about Rajni Basumatary's film 'Jwlwi: The Seed'.
For the uninitiated, Basumatary played Priyanka Chopra's mother in the 2014 Hindi film 'Mary Kom', and is also seen playing the protagonist Alari, in this film.
Alari is an everywoman living in the insurgency-riddled 1990s' Assam, who loses her husband to the conflict. Years later, her son Erak joins a banned outfit, only to thrust her life into complete disarray, shattering her hopes of ever leading an ordinary life with a family.
'Jwlwi' allows us to enter this fraught terrain where people are assigned markedly different roles based on their gender, religion, tribe and language, with women being relegated to the margins of their households in a hyper-masculine machinery of unrelenting violence.
In this episode, we explore how the film is located in Assam's and the North East's history and socio-political landscape, besides examining how Basumatary's screenplay was heavily influenced by her personal life, and the role the army played in bringing her film to life.
Tune into CiNEmatters on Firstpost’s YouTube channel, Spotify, Apple podcasts, Google podcasts, and wherever else you listen to your podcasts.
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