The life of Dipali Borthakur who is known as the Nightingale of Assam and her husband Neel Pawan Baruah, a renowned painter will be depicted in the screen by a group of filmmakers from Assam.
National award winning filmmaker Utpal Borpujari and ‘III Smoking Barrel’ famed Sanjib Dey among others are working on the script of the ambitious project.
Piloting the project as producers are noted actress and National School of Drama (NSD) alumni Mandakini Goswami, tea planter Amit Malpani and filmmaker Dey himself.
“This is a joint idea generated by three of us (Goswami, Malpani and him). Like everyone, we are also fascinated by the classic love story of the couple. Even before the death of Dipali baideo, we wanted to make a film. It’s a huge challenge but we have made our mind to go ahead with it,” said Dey.
In her lifetime, she had sung less than 30 songs. From 1968 till 2018 – for 50 years – she could not sing after losing her voice at the age of just 27, because of a debilitating motor neuron disease that also confined her to the wheel chair. But, for the public at large, she continued to be the Nightingale of Assam till her death in December 2018, as her songs continued to be heard by generation after generation. Her marriage with Neel Pawan Baruah, who loves to play with colours, eight years after her disease was detected, is what legendary love stories are made of.
They have acquired the rights of Dipali Borthakur and Neel Pawan Baruah’s sensitive and artistic life story for a full-length feature film, television and also for web series.
“We know the importance of the subject, and, therefore, we have done extensive research on Dipali Borthakur and Neel Pawan Baruah, with the latter providing us with a lot of personal details from their life. We are looking at the film as a classic love story between two highly-talented individuals who faced and fought immense physical and emotional challenges with lots of courage while not letting the various drawbacks come in between their relationship,” Golaghat born Dey who is now based in Mumbai said.
The director and the cast of the film, as well as other technical crew members would be finalized once the script is ready.
The film will be produced under the banner of Malpani Talkies, which was also the producer of ‘III Smoking Barrels’, and the producers will seek to rope in likeminded co-producers from within India and also abroad.
