A cup of Assam Tea

   Most movies end when they are supposed to, but there are a few that carry on beyond their conclusion, even while characters talk, walk, and sleep. I recently watched the Assamese movie called Kaneen, directed by Monjul Baruah. I carried the ache, the pain, and the tears within me after watching it. It was released in August 2019 in Guwahati. It is now available.  Here  worldwide for an audience like me.  Kaneen has already won several awards and has been screened in several national and international film festivals. It is an adaptation of the acclaimed and award-winning Assamese novel by Dr. Rita Choudhary and Rajib Ishwar. Directed by Monjul Baruah, Kaneen's carefully constructed screenplay shines through delicately . The story unfolds in urban Assam. A bureaucrat's wife, Mandira Baruah's, tightly knit life seems perfect from the outside. A happy life with two children and a busy yet affectionate police officer husband. The tsunami comes when she discovers...

       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, ...