“If we keep on giving to others from our heart, how can we
be poor? How can we be called the dispossessed”? These lines by one of the
characters in the film summarize it in the most simplistic terms, one that
leaves a striking mark on your conscience. And there lies the beauty and
serenity of Yarwng far beyond the clutches of commercial cinema. The film is
based on the events of large scale eviction of the locals due to the
construction of the Dumbur dam in Tripura during the 70s’ that submerged the
nearby low lying areas. The local inhabitants ended up losing their homes and
agricultural land, but due to lack of proper land documents the villagers were
given very little or no compensation.
The film is a fictionalized depiction of the events with a
love story in between. The film starts with a husband accusing her wife of
loving another man, and the wife tells her story behind it. The husband
realizes the pain and suffering of his wife and permits his wife to meet her
lover, only to end more painfully. The film’s ending was painful yet so
metaphorically beautiful that it almost made me feel the deep anguish of love
and sacrifice, as well the feeling of losing someone you love.
The film is made on a shoe-string budget, just like any
other film produced in the north-east, hence it is not a film to be assessed on
the technical aspects of filmmaking. It was shot on a digicam without any
professional lighting set-up, so visually it looks like a low-budget 80s’
Doordarshan serial; however, there are a few scenes and shots that are
effortlessly captured. The actors in the film are mostly locals, and a lot of
them are even real-life victims of displacement. Most of them have not even
seen a camera in their life, but this is what makes it more unique due to its
minimalism. The film was shot in Bolongbasa, Isoraipara, and other adjoining
areas in the state of Tripura. The technical crew of the film mostly belonged
to Kerala, and some post-production work was done at Hyderabad.
Director Father Joseph Pulinthanath is the main driving
force behind the film. Even though he hails from Kerala, he has spent a fair
share of his life in the North-east. He is a priest and not a full-time filmmaker
who doesn’t believe in traditional ways of preaching. Yarwng is his second
feature film in Kokborok in an attempt to preserve the language and culture of
the indigenous people with the help of cinema. He also aims to encourage new
filmmakers to do the same.
Apart from winning the best Kokborok feature film at the
56th National Film Awards, Yarwng has proudly represented India in more than
forty Film Festivals across the globe in countries such as Paris, USA, Germany,
Moscow and many more. Although it is not a film for the commercial audience, if
you love meaningful and realistic cinema, Yarwng is an essential watch.
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