The Village Rockstars, when they first started, the name itself, I felt the impact and power of it, way before watching the movie. Several nights, I got goosebumps thinking about and wondering about Rima Das, who single-handedly wrote, directed, cinematographed, and produced the film with a single handheld camera. Truly a one-woman show. Indeed, I was looking for every opportunity to watch the movie for several months. On December 17th, Village Rockstars, the Assamese film, was screened at MOMA in NYC. The first Indian film to be screened in MoMA, I just couldn't resist.
Village Rockstars, solace, and the soothing of being so real and relatable with a great dose of emotional and visual sensitivity. Set in the quaint village of Assam, a 10-year-old girl named Dhunu dreams of owning a guitar one day. Away from over-drama and the glamorous world, village rockstars portray little slices of life's hope, aspiration, dream, and resilience. Village Rockstars, which breathes life into an Assamese village, Assamese rice field, the flood of Assam, Assamese folk beliefs, traditions, a tad bit of Assamese culture, hand-loom, Assamese women wearing Thuria, and Japi (Assamese hats), presented in a way that appeals to a global audience.
Kudos to Rima Das's direction, without casting any trained actors, the acting of regular village folks looked so real and pure. Despite the village's admirable, lush, and serene landscape, a natural disaster like the flood destroys their homes, fields, and animals every year, but not their hope. This is the true aesthetic of the film, as hope is higher, the dream is dogmatism. There is the daily grind of making ends meet, yet Dhunu's widowed mother strives to bring her joy by buying a guitar. The lack of abundance couldn't take away the beauty of life. The rain, paper boat, swing, climbing the battle nut tree, and hiding the head with colocasia leaves from rain, and those carefree days will rejuvenate one's childhood. The wise man in the movie evokes a plethora of memories of my grandfather, whose stories we listened to in our open courtyard. Director Rima Das embraces " Less is more" in the movie, as silence played an integral part in the movie, yet said so much. Her acute observation of life in the celluloid is like sheer bliss - a girl playing with a goat, a suspended bamboo bridge, a vast sky with mellow clouds, and that half-drawn house in flood, and eating rice with salt. It will melt your heart away with Dhunu holding the cardboard guitar while sleeping, and at the end, her mother coming home, crossing the paddy fields with the guitar in her hands. A slow-burning, therapeutic, heartfelt movie with hope, charm, and affection.
The Movie ended at MoMA with a round of applause from the room full of a happy audience. We are incredibly delighted and honored to meet Rima Das and look forward to her next film, "Bulbul Can Sing".
This seems like such a deep and meaningful film! I would absolutely love to see it!
ReplyDeleteI should watch this movie
ReplyDelete