First time director Akanshya Bhagabati’s short film Kumu-The Song of a Wingless Bird was screened at the Department of Mass Communication and Journalism, Tezpur University on February 12 in the august presence of renowned film critic and filmmaker Parthajit Baruah, National Award winning singer Tarali Sarma, National Award winning sound designer Debajit Gayan and National Award winning filmmaker Suraj Duara, among others.
Set against the lush green tea gardens of Assam, the short film follows the lives of a 12-year-old Adivasi girl, Kumu, who was forced to forsake her education and carefree life owing to familial circumstances. Disturbed by regular conflicts between her drunkard father and a diligent mother, she is also burdened with the responsibility of looking after her younger sister. With her little sister on her lap and the regular hardships she has to face, Kumu turns into a withdrawn girl. She walks through the lanes of the green tea garden beneath the azure sky and attempts to escape her harsh reality.
Parthajit Baruah, who is also an Indian member of the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI), praised the film for its social value and appreciated the debut director’s effort. “I wish Akanshya a bright future so that she can make everyone of us proud, including her friends and family and the Department of Mass Communication and Journalism, Tezpur University along with the society and Assam”, he said.
Through the journey of Kumu, the film focuses on how the Adivasi children living in the tea gardens of Assam are deprived of their childhood happiness and hopes, beauty and parental care and are even forbidden from dreaming of a life beyond their predetermined fate.
Akanshya Bhagabati, who has previously worked as an assistant director in Parthajit Baruah’s The Children of God, and also a final year student of the Department of Mass Communication and Journalism, Tezpur University said, “I have not attended any film school, but the story that I have attempted to express here is very special to me, and it is this concept that has given me the strength and enthusiasm to turn it into a film. The entire journey has been a learning process for me from the masters of their field”.
She hopes that the film will be well received and expressing the power of good cinema she added, “I will be forever committed to my struggles and cause of bringing social issues to the forefront with cinema”.