50 years of Manipuri Cinema

Manipuri Cinema has recently completed its impressive journey of 50 years on 9th April 2022. It was on the same day in April 1972 that the first Manipuri feature film, Matamgi Manipur, directed by Deb Kumar Bose was released. Every year, 9 th April is observed as Mami Numit, implying the birth of Manipuri Cinema.

The five decades of Manipuri Cinema have been amazingly ingenious and courageous, considering the resource-crunch, absence of investment on evolving technology and outreach model to deal with audiences. Despite nearly non-negotiable challenges, Indie films of Manipur have been spearheading with their fierce spirit of independence and aesthetic ascendancy.

Pioneering figures like S.N. Chand, Aribam Syam Sharma, G. Narayan Sharma, Wangkhem Basanta,Moirangthem Nilamani Singh, MA Singh, RK Bidur, Laimayum Surjakanta, Oken Amakcham, Chand Heisnam, Makhonmani Mongsaba, Ningthouja Lancha and several others strove hard to make films and in the process they structured the rich repository of popular films that are assets of Manipuri Cinema. Many filmmakers from Manipur have won laurels at national and international film festivals, establishing Manipur’s place in Indian cinema.

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