How is Action World emerging in the Assamese Movies?

JOLLYWOOD ACTION – A NEW BEGINNING

Written by Anurag Barman

Action movies have always been thrilling the audiences all over the globe. Be it Hollywood or Bollywood, action films have set up their own space in the world of motion pictures. Coming to our very own Assamese film industry or popularly known as Jollywood, the films produced in this genre are not much behind than the other film industries. Though there have been a lot of action movies starting from Brajen Bora as the first action hero in Assam, the present generation have experienced some very good action movies out of which two are worth mentioning. One is the action thriller “Khawoi-The Danger Zone” produced under the banner of Trends Entertainment, which was released in December 2015 and the other is the very popular “Local Kung Fu”, a film by Kenny Basumatary, which got released in the year 2013.

Talking about Khawoi-The Danger Zone, it would not be wrong that the Assamese audience has experienced such an action thriller for the first time. A relaxing vacation turns into a nightmare for eight people as they find themselves trapped in the woods and get hunted down by strange and unprecedented forces. Khawoi is about their struggle to survive by any means possible. The key attractions of this film are the high voltage action sequences and stunts done by MTV Roadies X4 fame Anamika Barman, the lead lady of the film. It is for the first time in the history of Assamese films that an actress has performed such daredevil stunts. A special guest appearance was given by Grand Master Lee Wan Yong of South Korea. The film was well received by the audience and the same time, Anamika got the recognition of being the first action heroine of Assam.

Local Kung Fu, which was made at a very low budget turned out to be a game changer not only in Assam but also all over India. Directed by Kenny Basumatary, the film revolves around the central character “Charlie”, which has been portrayed by Kenny himself and a number of comical characters. The fight sequences which were designed by Kenny and his team of skilled martial artists are worth-watching. Local Kung Fu is the second Assamese film to have a nationwide release and it has been nominated for the best Assamese film in the inaugural Filmfare awards for the Eastern region.

Looking at these movies, one can clearly say that the Assamese industry also has the caliber to produce some great action movies. But at the same time, there are many people who still have the misconception that films made in Assam are not good at all. This is the reason why people go for Bollywood and other movies instead of our native movies. So, it’s high time that we should set a new trend in our film industry. It’s true that people get bored off if they are treated with the same form of entertainment for many years. The audience of the 21st century tastes only the best form of entertainment in the world of cinema. As films are a very powerful medium of mass media to connect across the world, we need to present something at which we are the best.

Well, we all know that North Eastern people are known for martial arts and combat sports. And it is true that youths of this region have a soft corner towards the combat world than the other parts of India. Many people of the North East practice martial arts from a very young age. Be it the internationally popular or the traditional martial arts, they become proficient within a very short time which indicates their passion and love for it. But at the same time, many of them regret at a certain point of time as they don’t get the suitable platform at the right time. So, action films can be considered as an alternate form of platform for the martial artists. Like the Chinese and the Thai movies, our people can try out for similar spectacular martial arts movies which are still not a part of Indian Cinema.

In a close conversation with the new-age action directors Bhabesh Ch ATC and Pradeep Das ATC, who is popularly known as Pradeep-Bhabesh ATC in the Assamese film industry, they stated that Assamese films can get a new definition if action is taken into account. They also believe that Assamese, as well as North East films, can earn national and international fame if full-fledged martial arts action films can be produced with the help of talented youths. Moreover, their dream is to introduce our native people into the world of action films and generate employment in this avenue. The duo action directors of Assam have made their name in the action world by winning the Best Action Direction award in the Rajasthan Film Festival 2015 for the Rajasthani feature film “Mero Badlo”, directed and produced by Mahendra Singh Gaur and Best Action Film award at the Rajasthan International Film Festival 2016 for the same film. They were also responsible for the superb action sequences of Khawoi –The Danger Zone and have also proved their excellence in action choreography in the popular Assamese serials like Dohon, Bhoi, Ghor Sansar, Abhijan and feature films like Suma Poroxote, The Face, Mission China, and many flicks.

Although it looks simple, yet it is not very easy to bring forward such a massive change in the highly competitive world of cinema due to the limitations in the Assamese industry including budget constraints and other marketing avenues. Everything depends on the people itself and especially the upcoming generation. In order to create a revolution in the field of Assamese cinema, interested people should constantly put forward their best efforts for its development because refinement comes after a number of failures. So, let’s have faith in action and hope that Jollywood gets a new identity in the world of action.