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.”
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