Bhaskar Hazarika's 'Aamis' Selected To Tribeca Film Fest In US: Sight & Sound

 Prantik Deka

Bhaskar Hazarika's 'Aamis' Selected To Tribeca Film Fest In US

National Award-winning director of the critically acclaimed 'Kothanodi', Bhaskar Hazarika's new Assamese film 'Aamis' has been officially selected at the prestigious Tribeca Film Festival in the US.

"News of our selection in Tribeca gives a huge boost to our plans to bring 'Aamis' to audiences this year. My congratulations and gratitude to our cast and crew for this tremendous achievement, and thanks to everyone who supported our film," Hazarika said in a statement.

The film will have its world premiere at the 'International Narrative Competition Section' of the 18th annual Tribeca Film Festival, scheduled to take place from April 24 to May 5, in New York.

Christoph Waltz's directorial debut 'Georgetown', 'Dreamland' produced by Margot Robbie, 'A Day in the Life of America' directed by Jared Leto and 'Nomad: In The Footsteps of Bruce Chatwin', directed and written by Werner Herzog, are some of the other films selected to be screened at the festival.

'Aamis' follows the story of Nirmali, a married paediatrician and Suman, a young PhD student researching food habits in northeastern India.

Suman's work exposes him to the belief that there's no kind of food that can be considered abnormal and Nirmali is drawn to this idea. The two quickly discover that they have a shared love for food - specifically, meat.

Together, they bond over meals comprising unusual meats on platonic dates, although Suman longs for some sort of physical contact. As Nirmali's taste buds grow more adventurous, their relationship takes a dark and bizarre turn neither had anticipated.

'Aamis' has been produced by Poonam Deol of Signum Productions and Shyam Bora of Metanormal Motion Pictures in association with Wishberry Films.

India International Dance Festival Held In Guwahati

A unique festival of dance - India International Dance Festival, held under the auspices of Samskritiki, Bhubaneswar, and Darpan Dance Akademi, Guwahati, took place on February 23 and 24, 2019, at the Shilpgram auditorium, Panjabari, Guwahati. Nrityacharjya Jatin Goswami, who inaugurated the festival, spoke about the importance of such platforms for the upcoming young dancers to make their identity at the national and international levels. He appreciated the attempt of IIDF to bring together all the dance forms into a single platform. Renowned Sattriya expert Naren Baruah, Dr Meernanda Borthakur, Bharatnatyam expert Anu Basumatary and Kathak expert Vijay Srivastav were the Guests of Honour at the inauguration function. Mohiniattam exponent Kalamandalam Sreeja R Krishnan and classical vocalist Kalamandalam Sathyanarayan from Kerala were also present on the occasion. Festival convener of IIDF Guwahati, Odissi and Sattriya artiste Dr Anjana Moyee Saikia welcomed all the guests and dignitaries present on the occasion.

Renowned Sattriya exponent of Assam and Sangeet Natak Akademi awardee Anita Sharma inaugurated the second day's proceedings, graced by Namrata Tiwari Talukdar, a Bharatnatyam and Manipuri artiste, Mohiniattam dancer Kalamandalam Sreeja R Krishnan, Sattriya exponents Dr Mallika Kandali, Ranjumoni Saikia, Marami Medhi, etc.

IIDF has been primarily conceived with the aim of celebrating dance without divisions. It was launched in Bhubaneswar, in 2015, by Samskritiki, a 29-year-old cultural society of Odisha. Shyamhari Chakra, a journalist and dance critic of national repute, who is the founder-secretary of Samskritiki, had conceptualised the idea of the festival. Bengaluru-based Sai Venkatesh is the festival chairperson, while Dr Anjana Moyee Saikia, who is the founder-secretary of the Darpan Dance Akademi, is the festival convener at Guwahati.

The motto of this festival is to strengthen bonds among places, countries and cultures through dance, and to bring all dance traditions and styles together to a common platform. It seeks to strengthen global goodwill and international integration, apart from developing a cultural bond between India with the rest of the world. Today, IIDF has grown into a multi-city event. It is being hosted every year in Bhubaneswar, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Delhi, and this year, the chapters in Guwahati, Pune, Amravati has been launched, while Kolkata, Trissur, Bhopal, Agartala and Puducherry are set to be launched soon. IIDF in Guwahati showcased various dance forms presented by gifted performers who stole the hearts of the audiences with their exquisite renditions and graceful movements.

A number of artistes performed different dance forms like Sattriya, Kathak, Bharatnatyam, Manipuri, Odissi, Mohiniattam, and traditional forms like Bhortal Nritya, Bodo, Tai Ahom, among others. There was also a talent search section for the young participants under 20 and 30 years of age on both the days, in the morning hours. It was a real visual treat for the audiences to witness such vibrant performances by young dancers, who showcased various classical dance forms. The dynamic rhythms of Kathak, the graceful and expressive movements of Odissi, Sattriya, Manipuri, vibrant steps of Bharatnatyam, woven with a series of lyrical movements, regaled the audiences.

The festival, organised for the first time in the Northeast India by Samskritiki and Darpan Dance Akademi, was attended by a number of noted dignitaries, dance connoisseurs and enthusiasts.

Puppet Making Workshop And Staging Of 'Tezimola' Held

For some years now, people in the State have been able to enjoy the ancient art form of puppetry due to the tireless efforts of the artistic couple, master puppeteers Binita Devi and Simanta Sarma. The couple, whose works have been presented at a range of theatres and festivals in the state and other parts of the country, has been imparting training in glove puppetry to a number of pupils from all over the State at their cultural institution Surajit Academy. It has always been the primary objective of their cultural institution to promote and create awareness of this vanishing art form.

Recently, Surajit Academy, in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, Govt. of India and Students' Welfare, Gauhati University, presented Rasaraj Lakshminath Bezbaroa's 'Tezimola' in the form of a puppet drama at the Gauhati University PD Hall, on March 1. The play, held in memory of Ramesh Chandra Sarma, founder and chief assistant teacher of Gauhati University Adarsha High Secondary School, was inaugurated by the Vice Chancellor of Gauhati University, Dr Mridul Hazarika. The function, compered by Niharendra Sarma, was also attended by Professor Dr Prasanta Sarma, as the eminent guest. Everyone enjoyed the puppet show immensely, and lauded the efforts of Surajit Academy, which has been staging puppet shows, and conducting workshops and training programmes, all over the State.

Earlier, Surajit Academy successfully conducted a workshop - An Effort for Technical Modernization of Traditional Puppetry Culture of Assam, which was held at the Students Day Home of Gauhati University. The workshop, inaugurated by Dr Ranjan Kumar Kakati, Director, Student's Welfare, Gauhati University, was participated by a number of students. The workshop also led to the making of the play's puppets by the students, who, besides deriving a lot of satisfaction from the experience, also learnt how to be a puppeteer.

Guwahati Girl Makes Waves As A Stylist In Bollywood Film

Guwahati-based Tanya Hawelia created waves in the Bollywood movie 'Gully Boy' with her costume designs and styling. Hawelia got an opportunity to work with some of the most well-known costume designers of the country like Poornamitra Singh and Arjun Bhasin, who also acted as her guides for the movie. Tanya obtained her professional degree in Stylist and Image Design from Pearl Academy in Delhi, a leading fashion designing college of the country.

In the interim of the course, she also worked as an assistant stylist for L'officiel, interned with Urvashi Kaur, and freelanced with FDCI (Amazon Fashion Week).

The turning point in Hawelia's career came when stylist Mansha Khurana gave her an opportunity to work as an intern stylist in the web series 'Made in Heaven' which got released on Amazon Prime, on March 8.

During the first month of her internship in the web series, she bagged the opportunity of working as an assistant stylist in 'Gully Boy', a successful film directed by Zoya Akhtar.

To style actors Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt as college going students, Hawelia with her team had to take pictures of students of various colleges in Mumbai for references. The team would also wake up at 3 am and go shopping at the very famous Bombay Chor Bazaar to pick authentic old clothes.

The stylist is currently working on her clothing label 'S.I.T.A.R.A.' and is planning to bring the best of styles and trends in the northeast. Hawelia who inaugurated her first store in Bangalore, travels to Mumbai for projects.