ALIPTA JENA
Director Bidyut Kotoky and Lou Majaw
Calcutta, May 15 : In the Northeast, music is the elixir that has carried many through a generation of strife.
Bidyut Kotoky’s documentary Guns and Guitars shoulders this untold tale of triumph over the dominant narrative of hate.
The 52-minute film will feature musician
Lou Majaw and eight bands — one from each state of the Northeast — and
track their quest for fulfilment, which culminated with Bob Dylan’s
birthday concert in Shillong last year.
“The film will try to highlight how this
generation rises above the pain, with guitars in their hands and songs
on their lips,” says the Mumbai-based award-winning documentary maker.
The idea struck Kotoky on a casual monsoon
morning in Mumbai, while he was accompanying Lou Majaw to a shop
selling musical instruments.
“Music is in the heart and soul of the
people of the Northeast. Ironically, there it is easier to get a gun
than a guitar,” said Lou.
The bands that feature in the documentary
are Alive (Sikkim), D’luzion (Assam), Swraijak (Tripura), Evenflow
(Mizoram), Cleave (Manipur), Incipit (Nagaland), Symmetry Clan
(Arunachal Pradesh) and Midnight Garden Factor (Meghalaya).
“I chose the bands because they comprise people who have love in their hearts for their fellowmen,” added Lou.
For past 38 years now, Lou has been
organising an annual concert on Bob Dylan’s birthday. Last year, he
organised a Sunrise to Sunset concert at Umiam Lake near Shillong,
reminiscent of Woodstock ’69.
“More often than not, the Northeast finds a
mention in the national media for all the wrong reasons. For years, I
have been troubled by this and tried to bring out various, lesser-known
aspects of the region through my films. The discussion with Lou and the
unusual proliferation of music and bands in the region struck a chord
and Guns and Guitars was born,” Kotoky adds.
The documentary, slated for completion soon, also boasts of innovative camera work by Bedadutti Dutta.
It will also attempt to explore parallels
between Dylan’s journey as a musician during the troubled period around
the Vietnam war, with the journey of these bands.
Kotoky’s team travelled from one state to
another, meeting people from various walks of life, hearing songs and
stories yet unheard.
Mizoram chief minister Lalthanhawla, Naga
social worker Niketu Iralu, former Ulfa cadre and current CEO of the
Bhupen Hazarika Cultural Trust Sunil Nath from Assam, INPT president
Bijay Hrangkhawal from Tripura and Manipur body-builder Pradip Kumar
speak of the loss of innocence through violence and subsequent efforts
towards harmony.
Lalhmingliana, a former MNF rebel from
Mizoram, recalls the year 1966 when he, as a member of the group, had to
go underground when the outfit declared independence and speaks of the
present which “can be transformed with a little effort and patience”.
Delhi-based actor Adil Hussain speaks of
the Assam Agitation, in which many lives were lost, and the betrayal of
the peoples’ emotions back then, the unfulfilled promises.
However, he adds, “I believe in hope.
People like Irom Sharmila, Lou Majaw and many unknown names have the
potential to change the world. So can anyone who chooses to harness the
potential within themselves.”
The eight bands are fresh and willing to
experiment with rhythms, preferring to look beyond half-a-century of
crippling violence.
“The things we can’t express with words, we express with music,” says a band member, as they sing “any day now, any way now, I shall be released.”
Lou sums it up, “There must be a paradise for every hellhole and the seeds for it have been planted.”