'Bulbul Can Sing' Bags Top Honour at MAMI

Rima Das' visceral coming-of-age drama, 'Bulbul Can Sing' took home the Golden Gateway award in the India Gold category at the 20th Jio MAMI Mumbai Film festival. She clinched the top award at the fest for the second year in a row. Last year, Das' 'Village Rockstars' won three awards at the Mumbai Film Festival.

The film is about a teenager, Bulbul, living in a village in Assam, fighting her way through love and loss as she figures out who she really is.

The filmmaker dedicated the award to her mother. "I am giving this award to my mom. Last time 'Village Rockstars' received three awards at MAMI and this is our first win for this film. I'd like to thank the universe and God for giving me so much strength," a visibly emotional Das told the audience.

Recalling an incident from her teenage years to assert how her mother has been an empowering figure in her life, Das said after her brother refused to accompany her to a shoot of an Assamese TV show, her mother asked her why she couldn't go alone to the set.

"So, thank you Mom for pushing me in the real world. I'm so blessed that I'm doing what I love to do. I am so happy that cinema is giving me so much freedom to create my world and characters," the director said.

She also sought from the audience blessings and love for the Oscar journey of 'Village Rockstars'.

The film, which won four National Awards this year, including the Best Feature Film Award, has been selected as India's official entry in the best foreign language film category at the 2019 Academy Awards.