Mangaldai: Nayanmoni Mura from Assam was awarded the Best Youth Artist award at Toronto International Women Film Festival 2022.
She, a class IX student, is a resident of Dhontula Tea Estate in the Nagaon district.
She won the award for her role in Akanshya Bhagabati’s short fiction ”KUMU – The song of a wingless bird’.
The Director of the film Akanshya Bhagabati revealed this to NorthEast Now after she received a main from the organizers in Canada.
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She said, “I received a mail which confirmed Nayanmoni has been chosen as the best actress in the youth category for her lead role in KUMU.”
She further quoted Nayanmoni saying that she (Nayanmoni) was full of excitement.
“This journey has been quite unbelievable for me. Initially, when I was approached for the task, I was quite confused and doubtful about how I would act with no prior experience of acting but I am really happy that I did it”, Nayanmoni said.
The film KUMU is set against the lush green tea gardens of Assam, where it follows the life of a 12-year-old Adivasi girl, played by Nayanmoni Mura, who was forced to forsake her education and carefree life owing to familial circumstances.
Through the journey of Kumu, the film focuses on how the Adivasi children living in the tea gardens of Assam are deprived of their childhood happiness and hopes, beauty and parental care and are even forbidden from dreaming of a life beyond their predetermined fate.
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It may be recalled here that KUMU was recently awarded the Best Short Feature film at the 15th edition of the reputed SiGNS Film Festival in Kerala organized by the Federation of Film Societies of India – Keralam.
Written and directed by Akanshya Bhagabati, the cinematography of the film is credited to Chida Bora, sound is credited to Debajit Gayan, Color Grading by Suraj Duara, editing by Hirak Jyoti Pathak and renowned National Award-winning singer Tarali Sarma is the music director of the film. The lyrics of the central song in the film are written by Akanshya’s mother Jahnabee Bhagabati.