Boong, Review: Slingshot hotshot in search of father, and farther
Boong, Review: Slingshot hotshot in search of father, and farther
Do you know that Boong is the first ever Indian film to win an award at British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA)? Till date, three Indian films have been nominated for Best Film from any Source - Pather Panchali (1955), Aparajito (1956), and Apur Sansar (1959), and five for Best Film Not in the English Language - Salaam Bombay! (1988), Monsoon Wedding (2001), Devdas (2002), Rang De Basanti (2006), and The Lunchbox (2014). None of them won. However, four Indian individuals have bagged BAFTAs, the British equivalent of the Academy Awards (Oscars). Boong won it for being voted Best Children's & Family Film. Those that were nominated, as listed above, were either in Hindustani or in Bengali, three of them directed by Satyajit Ray. Boong has been written and directed by Lakshmipriya Devi, a Manipuri lady, who had worked as second and first assistant director for many years in the Mumbai film industry, in films like Lakshya, Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd., Swades, PK, Rang De Basanti and Dunki. And amid all the congratulations and felicitations, she says this could be her last film. Why? Read on.
What is Boong about?
It is about a pre-teens Meitei (one of the two main ethnic groups in Manipur, the other being Kuki-Zo) ethnic boy, named Brojendra, and called Boong (boy) by one and all, a sure-shot sling-shot, who wants to get out of his Manipuri language (Meiteilon) medium school and join an English medium school, because the latter is considered more prestigious, and his knowledge of English is pathetic.
It is about a Meitei woman, Mandakini, Boong’s mother, who runs a shop, and who wants to maintain her pride, and dignity, although her husband has not returned home for years, and the village folk target her for this act of destiny.
It is about a bespectacled Marwadi boy, Raju Agarwal, son of a saree-vendor, who befriends his classmate, Boong, and sticks to him through thick and thin.
It is about Sudhir Agarwal, Raju’s father, who is an outsider, a ‘mayang’, whose ancestors came from Rajasthan, but who is no less Manipuri, and a man both Mandakini and Boong can rely on.
It is about JJ, a trans-gender, a community that, in Manipur, live with their family, not separately, who sings and performs in clubs and halls.
It is about Juliana, a classmate of Boong in the new school, who is brave and full of ideas, and who likes Boong.
It is about Joykumar, Mandakini’s husband, who left home to work in a Burma Teak factory in faraway Moreh, has deserted his family, and never returned, but at every Holi, Mandakini expectantly waits for him to come back.
Boong is ingenious for his age, and the first scene of the film shows us that he is determined and clever too. The way in which he manipulates his exit from the school is both hilarious and a good piece of writing. He is also simplistic and logical. In an examination, when asked “Who is God?”, he writes “Joykumar”. Foxed, the teacher asks him how did he arrive at that answer, and he, quite innocently, replies, “You told us in class that God is our father. My father’s name is Joykumar, so I wrote Joykumar.” Initially averse to interacting with girls (the common, “I hate girls” syndrome that every pre-teenager goes through), he begins to soften his attitude when his classmate Juliana, a Christian, wins him over.
One day, out of the blue, an envelope is delivered to Mandakini, containing Joykumar’s death certificate, his identity card and his wedding ring. However, Mandakini has a gut feeling that her husband is still alive. While the villagers start preparing the rituals that form the last rites of a dead person, Mandakini heads for the village head’s home, confronts him and asks him about the origin of the authenticity of the envelope’s contents, and the credibility of his death report. He attributes it to a phone call from an unknown number. While they are there, Mandakini and Boong hear strange sounds, and rush towards the source, which turns out to be a video projector, running the Hindustani film, PK. Showing Hindustani films is banned in Manipur, and the last film shown there was Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. Well, well! So the village head is running an illegal video parlour! Caught in the act, the village head reveals that the whole Joykumar scenario has been manufactured. Mandakini walks into the area where the priests and villagers are doing their chants and worship, to mourn Joykumar, wearing the boldly coloured, exquisite saree that she had kept aside to wear only when her husband returned, kicks the paraphernalia, and walks away.
Noticing how depressed his mother gets at each Holi, because his father does not show-up, Boong decides to find his father, and bring him home, as a Holi gift for his family. All he knows is that his father is in a place called Moreh, quite far from his village and very close to the border with Myanmar. Belying his age, Boong works out a plan to go to Moreh, with very little money in his pocket, with the help of Juliana. Boong tells his mother that he is going on a two-day school trip to another town. Raju agrees to go with him. He, too, makes an excuse, to his father, and the three depart for Moreh, little knowing that they will have to travel even farther, into Myanmar.
Several factors have influenced Lakshmipriya’s writing. Firstly, she feels that the film is a sum total of her own life and experiences, with the melodrama removed and cinematic scripting taking its place. Secondly, she left Manipur at the age of 10 (Boong is about that age) to go and study at a boarding school in Delhi. Next, she did a course at the Jamia Millia Islamia, which has had alumni as illustrious as ShahRukh Khan. Her Aunt, M.K. Binodini Devi, was a film script-writer and wrote two films for Manipur’s most famous film-maker, Aribam Syam Sharma, whom she admires. Binodini Devi gave her The Catcher in the Rye (1951) to read, before she was even 10 years old. And lastly, and most significantly, the 25 years she spent in the Mumbai film industry, as assistant director.
Like most films, Boong also demands a suspension of disbelief. The string of co-incidences, and the almost adult acts of Boong, have to be given a license. Yet, this suspension is much less than what most over-the-top Hindustani films demand. It is amazing that Lakshmipriya has managed to make tightly controlled tangential forays from the main plot, to touch upon the army presence in Manipur, the problem of language and study mediums, information about the state, the plight of a single parent (a woman) raising a boy in an orthodox society, the issue of mayangs and the integration of the Marwadi community into Manipuri society, 80-90 years after they first arrived in the state, ‘Annas’, from Chennai, running the Burma teak factories, the strong-willed women of Manipur, who work and run their kitchens, even running a hotel single-handedly, while men prefer the laid-back, easy life, the acceptance and assimilation of trans-genders into their own families and their society, the fan following of Madonna and the popularity of her 1984 cult song, “Like a virgin”, the fact that Manipuris could cross over to Myanmar for half a day, on payment of a mere Rs. 20, and more. She shoots the Holi festival as it used to be observed decades ago, not in the DJ-Bollywood style in which it is celebrated in the present day. A touch of black comedy or 'coffin humour' is written-in, influenced by Jane Bhi Do Yaro (1983), which, in turn, was based loosely on Pas de Probleme (French, 1975).
Boong began as an idea that germinated in 2018 and fructified in 2024. Covid played its part in the delay. In the intermediary years, the two boys chosen for the roles of Boong and Raju, grew up, and did not fit the characters any more. So, she had to find replacements. Luckily for her, she was second time lucky. In the time that it took to shoot the film, these boys did not grow much taller. Raju and his father are the only non-Manipuri actors in the films. For the role of Sudhir Agarwal, she picked an actor from the cast of Dunki, mainly because he, besides being a very good actor, could be accepted as Raju’s father, based on his complexion and looks.
It takes some believing that Boong is the director’s first film. All that she learnt in the time she spent in the Mumbai filmdom, about half her life, stands her in good stead. After the BAFTA, she could be in the running for the Best Debut director award at other festivals. A couple of things could have enhanced the impact of the film. The finger-formation that Boong and the other little girl, in Moreh, use, before shooting from their slings, is not explained. On being asked about it offline (after a screening), Devi revealed that it denotes the brow-antlered deer or dancing deer, which is the state animal of Manipur. One wonders why Joykumar does not simply divorce Mandakini, and remarry, without resorting to tricks, like sending his first wife an envelope that fakes his death. It is a bit too much to see the little girl, who seems to be not more than 5 years old, first target Boong with her sling, and then hit and run several hundred metres, only to lead Boong to her home.
So, why does Lakshmipriya Devi say that Boong could be her last film? Two reasons. She is still too close to recent developments in her native state. Manipur is experiencing severe, ongoing ethnic conflict (since May 2023), between the Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities, characterised by near-total segregation, armed clashes, and periodic violence. The situation is driven by disputes over land, tribal status, and political representation. So, she cannot make a film on the subject, though it is a burning topic. Secondly, she does not have any other story with her that can be made into a film. She insists that unless she has something really worthwhile to say, she should not make a film. And she has taken the BAFTA in her stride. Egged on by journalists, to say whether she was disappointed at her film not being sent for the Oscars, she harbours no delusions and remains firmly grounded to the earth. “BAFTA was a dream, something I could never have expected. Of course I am delighted with the recognition, but let’s face it: Boong is no Homebound.”
Manipuri actors acting in a Manipuri film…so there would be no problem, right? Wrong. The boy playing Boong comes from the Kuki-Zo tribe, and their language is completely different from the Meitei. So, he had to learn the language. Likewise, the non-Manipuri character had to learn Meitei too. Of course, we had to go by the sub-titles, so no comment on the fluency or otherwise of the actors, while rendering the dialogue.
When it comes to acting, Lakshmipriya has a talent-house in place. Performances are natural, unaffected and effusive. Though Gugun Kipgen rocks as Boong, and will win a million hearts, Bala Hijam Ningthoujam as Mandakini, his screen-mother, could easily pass off as his real mother. It is difficult to believe that the boy playing Raju has a name that goes Angom Sanamatum. He could as well be a Raju Agarwal in real-life. Dunki was testimony to Vikram Kochhar’s talent, and he easily stepped into the shoes of Sudhir Agrawal. When she was looking for a trans-gender person to play JJ, Jenny Khurai, a make-up artist, cast herself, and being trans-gender, she did not even have to act. Nemetia Ngangbam makes a cutie pie Juliana. Hamom Sadananda appears in a cameo as Joykumar.
Shujaat Saudagar, a long-term associate, was the first to come on board, as producer. But it is Excel Entertainment, producers of repute, helmed by Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar, that ensured a much-deserved theatrical release, in September, 2025. At that time, it did not make any waves at the box-office, but since it was made on a shoe-string budget, nobody was grumbling. Don’t miss it this time.
Rating: *** ½
Trailer: https://youtu.be/2tYC_fBLDUE
