Abstract
The paper engages with two Assamese historical films, Maniram Dewan (1964) and Kukhal (1998), produced in post-Independent India. The two movies are conspicuous by virtue of their presentation of the eponymous martyrs who are indelibly engraved in the collective consciousness of Assamese society through ubiquitous cross-genre presence. The first part of the paper problematizes the cinematic reconfiguration of history- the aforementioned movies re-work and re-invent historical images of the martyrs. The inherent ideological position that cinema takes often propagates the ideology of a society’s prevailing historical and political narrative. This necessitates an examination of the politics of production that inheres in any cultural project that seeks to engage with history. The paper also attempts to locate the movies in the historical/political juncture of Assamese nationalism during the post-independent period. Notably, the movies were produced during two moments of political/cultural upheavals in Assam- the Language Movement of 1960s and the extremist armed uprising of 1990s that sought to address, albeit violently, the vexed issue of ‘Assamese Identity.’ The paper explores how the projection of the past in the movies is interwoven with the sociopolitical context of production, thereby enabling one to trace the changing facets of Assamese nationalism and what constitutes an ‘Assamese’ identity.
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Assamese Nationalism, Historical Films, Politics of production, Maniram Dewan, Kukhal
