National Award winning Assamese feature film ‘Kothanodi’ will be premiered at Majuli, nerve of Vaishnavite culture, on September 13. This is probably for the first time that a film premiere will take place at the world’s biggest inhabitant river island.
New Delhi-based prominent film critic Utpal Borpujari said that it’s a commendable job done by the filmmakers.
“This is definitely the first time that an Assamese film is being premiered at Majuli, a place where there are no cinema halls. It is a commendable and innovative initiative by the producers,” said Borpujari.
The premiere is being organized at Uttar Kamalabari Satra on Tuesday at 6 pm and it will be attended by the film’s cast and crew.
‘Kothanodi’ – which won the National Award this year, is based on events and characters in Assamese folk stories as compiled by Assam’s literary doyen Sahityarathi Lakshminath Bezbaroa in ‘Burhi Aair Xadhu’. The premiere is expected to be attended by a host of dignitaries including family members of Lakshminath Bezbaroa.
“We shot most of the film in Majuli and were received with so much warmth and love by the people there. It is only right that instead of asking them to take the long ferry ride to Jorhat to watch ‘Kothanodi’, we go ourselves and screen the film for them before it is seen by the rest of Assam,” said director Bhaskar Hazarika.
The film which features Adil Hussain, Seema Biswas, Zerifa Wahid and Urmila Mahanta among others has already been screened at Busan International Film Festival and at the British Film Institute’s 59th London Film Festival among others.
This decision has also brought a sense of happiness to the locals of Majuli who are already overjoyed after the island was declared a district on Thursday.
“We are very happy that the national award winning film Kothanodi is going to be premiered in Majuli. We thank the entire team for this, and pray for the success of the film,” Satraadhikar Janardan Goswami said.
