New Delhi: The President of India, Droupadi Murmu, on Tuesday (October 17), conferred the National Film Awards for the year 2021, under various categories, at the 69th edition of the ceremony, held in New Delhi’s Vigyan Bhawan. India’s highest film honour, the Dada Saheb Phalke Award, was conferred on legendary actress Waheeda Rehman.
Amid turbulent times besetting the northeastern state of Manipur, two acclaimed filmmakers from the state, Mayanglangbam Romi Meitei and Saikhom Ratan, bagged individual awards at the 69th edition of the award ceremony, the Directorate of Information and Public Relations (DIPR), Manipur, said in a press release on Tuesday.
While Romi Meitei was honoured with the best Manipuri feature film category for his iconic feature film “Eikhoigi Yum” (our house), Saikhom Ratan bagged the best biographical non-feature film award for his flick “Beyond Blast,” the release said.
Before making his debut with the parallel cinema “Eikhoigi Yum,” Romi was a successful mainstream commercial filmmaker, making over 100 such movies, most of which were box office hits, the DIPR release added.
After bagging his first ever national film award, Romi said, “Though the event was great and memorable, the current crisis gripping Manipur has dampened my celebratory moods. I am very happy with the recognition given to my film “Eikhoigi Yum,” which was my first non-commercial project. As much as I wish, I am unable to enjoy the moment, considering the unceasing conflict going on in my state.”
“I must thank the Manipur State Film Development Society (MFSDS) for the inspiration it has provided to me with the year-long events it organised to commemorate the Golden Jubilee of Manipuri Cinema (1972–2022). In fact, “Eikhoigi Yum” had the privilege of opening one of the highlights of the celebration, the first ‘Eikhoigi Imphal International Film Festival’ (EIIFF),” Romi added.
Saikhom Ratan said that the award ceremony is the pinnacle of his filmmaking journey, which started in 1992. Though he is overwhelmed by the honour, sadly, the situation back home is preventing him from indulging, it said.
Besides the two acclaimed filmmakers from Manipur, Borun Thokcom, also from the state, was a proud spectator at the glittering award ceremony, as he was among a few film personalities from the nation who were jury members in the non-feature film category. Thokcom, who himself is a filmmaker and also a national award winner, officiated as a jury member for the national honours for the first time, the release further said.
“We had to view more than 200 short and documentary films in multiple languages. However, at the end of the day, beauty has no language barriers, and the language of cinema presided, and films made with passion and with the right intent stood out as always. I feel happy that Manipuri filmmakers did well in the categories of feature and non-feature,” Thokcom said.
In September 2023, Romi Meitei bagged the best director of a full-length feature film award for “Eikhoigi Yum" at the 19th Kazan International Muslim Film Festival held in Russia’s Kazan city. In August this year, he won the best feature film in Manipuri, in the language specified in Schedule VIII of the (Indian) Constitution category, for the same film, at the 69th National Film Awards, 2021.