Acting
A muddled tranquility arises in a strict Brahmin family when the elder son Pramesor brings in a girl Thoibi, a Chingmi ningol from Kabui tribe of Keishamthong, Imphal. An adaptation of the Shumang Leela blockbuster of the same name,Oinam Gautam's film is a social commentary which tackles the rigid conventional barrier of religion and community.
Khongchat (meaning "journey" in Manipuri) chronicles the life of a simple village dweller guy named Ta Tomba (Olen) who for the first time goes to Imphal city. He comes across and tries to adapt to many new things there most importantly the city people who try to take advantage of his innocence. After he lands a job as a helper in a family, Tomba not only faces the harsh class disparity but also loses his love interest.
The film Leipaklei tells the story of Leipaklei, a woman named after a Manipuri flower. Like the flower whose habitat is the hard ground, she is surrounded by hard trials and ironies of fate: separation from the one who loved and is still loved by her, abandonment by her husband, the trials of being a single parent, the violence of the gaze of men who sees her as fair game. Not unlike the flower Leipaklei, which hibernates beneath parched grounds - dreaming for a spring past, the protagonist dreams of the return of her beloved. He returns.
Tamubi had determined not to visit her estranged husband. Not even once in their twelve years of separation. But one day, all against herself, she visits to attend her daughter’s wedding. She yielded to her daughter’s persistence. When she arrives the estranged couple did not exchange a single word. As night falls after the ceremony, Tamubi has no choice but to hold the night at her husband’s place. Reminiscence of the years gone by keep awake the separated husband and wife the whole night. The following day her husband pleads her to come back and start life anew. But Tamubi sticks to her independent conscience.
