Hindi Cinema Made in Northeast India: A Case Study of Three Directors

Abstract

Mainstream Hindi cinema with pan-Indian presence has been stereotyping its regional identities by presentation of the lifestyle and cultural identities. India’s Northeast is also a victim of this ongoing phenomena in the hundred-year-old history of Indian Cinema. No mainstream major Indian filmmaker came forward to make any film on the backdrop of Northeast till recent years, with a remarkable exception like Mary Kom, made on the outstanding life of a global boxing icon hailing from this region. Kalpana Lajmi directed films like Ek Pal and Daman on the backdrop of Assam are in fact productions undertaken at the initiative of co-producer and iconic Assamese legend Dr Bhupen Hazarika. As opposed to this scenario, there had been few initiatives by film directors hailing from Northeast to highlight this region before the Hindi speaking mainstream Indian cinephiles through the production of original Hindi language films on the backdrop of this region. This study explores a selected few Hindi films directed by filmmakers from Northeast India like Dr Bhupen Hazarika, Jahnu Baruah and Dr Bhabendra Nath Saikia to examine how this region, its people and culture have been presented and to what extent their films Mera Dharam Meri Maa, Apeksha and Kaalsandhya impacted mainstream Hindi audience in understanding and accepting the unique identity, lifestyle, culture and social norms of this region.