Joymoti (1935 film)
Joymoti | |
---|---|
Lakshminath Bezbaroa (play) | |
Produced by | Jyoti Prasad Agarwala |
Starring | Aideu Handique Phunu Barooah |
Cinematography | Bhopal Shankar Mehta |
Music by | Jyoti Prasad Agarwala |
Distributed by | Chitralekha Movietone |
Release date |
|
Country | India |
Language | Assamese |
Joymoti or Joimoti is a 1935 Indian film widely considered to be the first
Joymoti was screened at the 50th International Conference of the Society For Cinema and Media Studies (SCMC) of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, United States in March 2011.[2]
Other screenings include:
- India-Bangladesh Joint Celebration of 100 Years of Indian Cinema, Dhaka (2012)
- UCLA's Centre for India and South Asia Studies, Los Angeles (April 2010)
- Osian-Cinefan's 10th Film Festival of Asian and Arabic Cinema, New Delhi (2008)
- Filmbüro Baden Württemberg's Internationales Indisches Filmfestival, Stuttgart (2006)
- Asiaticafilmidale (Encounters with Asian Cinema), Rome (2006)
- Munich Film Festival(2006).
Although never a commercial success, Joymoti was noted for its political views and the use of a female
The film was the first Indian
Plot summary
Set in 17th-century
Background
On his way back from England, Jyoti Prasad Agarwala spent about six months at the
A special property room was constructed, in which Jyoti Prasad Agarwala collected traditional costumes, ornaments, props, hats, etc. This grew into a museum. Technicians were brought in from Lahore; ice, transported from Calcutta.
The film was taken to Lahore for editing, at which stage Agarwala discovered there was no sound for one half of the film. Unable to marshal the actors once again from their native places due to various constraints, he hired a sound studio and dubbed the voices of all male and female characters. On a single day, he recorded six thousand feet of film. This unplanned accomplishment made Jyotiprasad Agarwala the first Indian filmmaker to have introduced Dubbing and Re-recording Technology in Talkies.[7][8]
Plot background
Joymoti was the wife of the Ahom prince Gadapani. During the Purge of the Princes from 1679 to 1681 under King
Joymoti's sacrifice would bear fruit in time: Laluk was murdered in November 1680 by a disgruntled body of household retainers. The ministers, now roused to a sense of patriotism, sent out search parties for Gadapani who, gathering his strength, returned from his exile in the Garo Hills to oust Sulikphaa from the throne. Joymoti had known that only her husband was capable of ending Sulikphaa-Laluk's reign of terror. For her love and her supreme sacrifice for husband and country, folk accounts refer to her as a Soti.
Overview
Joymoti, a study of the culture and history of Assam, carried with it the bright possibility of a film tradition. The significant similarities with the Russian montage reflect an element of influence. The film is noted for its constantly changing angles, unique sets (built from scratch on a tea plantation, with local materials), and other stylistics tactics employed by the imaginative Jyoti Prasad in this his film debut. By then a published poet and writer, his lyricism is clearly evident in this pioneering film.
Technical aspects
The film was shot on a 4267.20 m-length film.
Filming
According to
Although shooting at the Chitraban Studio started in April 1933, it faced an initial delay as Jyoti Prasad was unable to find a suitable young woman to play "Joymoti", as well as actors for a few other roles. This was inspired by Jyoti Prasad's desire to liberate cinema from that "uncertain" reputation. After a prolonged search and detailed interviews, he discovered Aideu Handique in a remote village near Golaghat, for the role of Joymoti: she was to become the first actress of Assamese cinema. He then brought together the other chosen actors, of whom some had never seen a film, to acquaint them with his characters.
During filming, the rainy season was to prove a challenge to developments in the technical process, with Jyoti Prasad having to suspend shooting for several days at a time, due to insufficient light in the absence of outdoor electricity. Shooting was carried out under sunlight by using reflectors. Filming was eventually completed in August 1934, and Joymoti released in early 1935 after Jyoti Prasad had completed his own editing.
Cast
- Phanu Barua
- Aideu Handique
- Mohini Rajkumari
- Swargajyoti Datta Barooah
- Manabhiram Barua
- Phani Sarma
- Sneha Chandra Barua
- Naren Bardoloi
- Rana Barua
- Shamshul Haque
- Rajen Baruah
- Putal Haque
- Pratap Barua
- Rajkumari Gohain
- Subarnarekha Saikia (as Kheuti)
- Lalit Mohan Choudhury
- Banamali Das
- Prafulla Chandra Barua
- Kamala Prasad Agarwala
- Subha Barowa (in the role of spy)
Film rediscovered
Following the
Then, in 1995, popular Assamese story-writer, novelist, engineer, actor, screenwriter and documentary film director Arnab Jan Deka, recovered the original intact print of the film, containing the entire footage, at a Studio in Bombay. This original print of Joymoti was thought to be lost after India's division in 1947, as it was left behind in a studio in Lahore, now in Pakistan. Somehow the print, together with other films, travelled from Lahore and resurfaced in India's film capital.
After making this great recovery, Arnab Jan Deka reported the matter to the Assam Government, and wrote about this recovery in the Assamese daily Dainik Asam and the English daily The Assam Express.[7][11] Other leading English and Hindi newspapers, like The North East Times, The News Star, and Purvanchal Prahari, published extensive reports about Arnab Jan Deka's phenomenal discovery.[3][12][13] This film's director Jyotiprasad Agarwala's younger brother, Hridayananda Agarwala, and the famous Assamese actor-playwright, Satya Prasad Barua, also confirmed and publicly acknowledged Arnab Jan Deka's great recovery through two separate articles in the Dainik Asam and the highly circulated English daily The Assam Tribune in 1996.[14][15] This matter was also debated at Assam Legislative Assembly, and Secretary, Cultural Affairs Department of Assam Government, convened an official meet to discuss this matter together with other issues pertaining to development of Assamese films.[16]
In 2011 Arnab Jan Deka again wrote in detail about this entire episode in the prestigious Assamese literary journal Prantik.[17]
The fate of Chitraban
Situated about 10 km west of Gohpur, Jyoti Prasad's temporary film studio ‘Chitraban’, at Bholaguri Tea Estate, today stands deserted, a nostalgic nod to its glorious past. Once owned by Jyoti Prasad, the tea plantation passed on to the Assam Tea Corporation in 1978. The garden, where Jyoti Prasad single-handedly laid the foundation stone of Assamese cinema, now lies abandoned. The bungalow, where he composed the music for Joymoti on his organ, still stands - albeit in a dilapidated condition.
See also
- Indramalati (1939)
References
- ^ Tamuli, Babul (2002) ""The making of Joymoti"". Archived from the original on 27 October 2009. Retrieved 18 March 2007.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link), The Assam Tribune. - ^ "The Telegraph - Calcutta (Kolkata) | Northeast |Joymoti goes Hollywood". Archived from the original on 25 October 2012. Retrieved 10 August 2010.
- ^ a b Staff Reporter (7 February 1995). "'The first ever Indian dubbed film was Assamese'". Vol. 5, no. 125. The North East Times.
- ^ Jyoti Prasad Agarwala and his films Archived 14 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Mazid, Altaf (2006), "Joymoti : The first radical film of India" Archived 8 December 2006 at the Wayback Machine, Himal Magazine, March 2006.
- ^ Interview with Altaf Mazid, "Restoring Joymoti" Archived 11 April 2007 at the Wayback Machine, Himal Magazine, March 2006.
- ^ a b Deka, Er. Arnab Jan (9 April 1995). "From IFFI'95 with Love : A Festival of Friendship". Vol. XXVI, no. 140. The Assam Express.
- ^ Bora, Prafulla Prasad: "Film Making in Assam", The Brahmaputra Beckons, 1982.
- ^ "History of Assam: The Medieval Period". Govt. of Assam. Archived from the original on 23 December 2011. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
- ^ TI Trade (27 March 2008). "The Assam Tribune Online". Assamtribune.com. Retrieved 7 April 2013.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Deka, Arnab Jan (26 July 1996). "First Indian film 'Joymoti' using Dubbing Technology". Dainik Asam.
- ^ Das, Rima (25 June 1995). "Hollywood Personalities in Guwahati". Vol. XII, no. 45. The News Star. Seven Star Publications Pvt. Ltd.
- ^ Neeraj, Ravikant (24 February 1995). "'Celluloid Truth' of Tirlok Malik is not Fantasy". Vol. 6, no. 279. Purvanchal Prahari.
- ^ Agarwala, Hridayananda (21 July 1996). "Recovery of 'Joymoti's original print". Dainik Asam.
- ^ Baruah, Satya Prasad (31 May 1996). "The most heartening news". The Assam Tribune.
- ^ Deka, Arnab Jan (21 March 1997). "Recovery of 'Joymoti' print : Legislative Assemby should adopt resolution". Dainik Asam.
- ^ Deka, Arnab Jan (16 March 2008). "'Joymoti' with Jyoti's voice : A failed expedition to recover the first Indian dubbed film". Prantik.
External links
- Joymoti at IMDb
- Jyoti Prasad Agarwala and his films Archived 14 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine, from rupkowar.com Archived 28 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- Joymoti at SPICE