Kothanodi

Kothanodi (The River of Fables)

Official poster of Kothanodi

Official poster of Kothanodi
Directed by Bhaskar Hazarika
Produced by Anurupa Hazarika, Crowdfunders
Written by
Based on Assamese Folk tales
Starring Seema Biswas
Adil Hussain
Music by Amarnath Hazarika
Cinematography Vijay Kutty
Edited by Suresh Pai
Production
company
Metanormal Motion Pictures
Running time
 115 minutes
Country India
Language Assamese

Kothanodi (Assamese: কথানদী, Hindi: कथानदी, English: The River of Fables) is an Assamese language feature film written and directed by Bhaskar Hazarika and stars Seema Biswas, Adil Hussain, Zerifa Wahid, Urmila Mahanta, Kopil Bora and Asha Bordoloi. The story of the film is based on folktales from Assam, India.[1]

Kothanodi won the Asian Cinema Fund's Post Production Fund Award for 2015,[2] and was first screened at the 20th Busan International Film Festival which was held from 1 to 10 October 2015.[3] In April 2016, the film received the National Film Award (India) for Best Assamese language feature film.[4]

Story

Kothanodi is based on characters and events described in Burhi Aair Sadhu (Grandma's Tales), a popular compendium of folk stories compiled by Assamese literary giant Lakshminath Bezbaroa. The four fables referenced in the film are Tejimola, Champawati, Ou Kuwori (The Outenga Maiden) and Tawoir Xadhu (The Story of Tawoi).

Once upon a time, Senehi (Zerifa Wahid), a schizophrenic woman who loathes her stepdaughter, plots her murder when her husband is called away on a distant trip on business. Her husband, Devinath (Adil Hussain), encounters a woman called Keteki (Urmila Mahanta) who has given birth to an outenga (elephant apple), which rolls around after her. Devinath resolves to unearth the mystery of the outenga.

Meanwhile in another village, a rich woman named Dhoneshwari (Seema Biswas) is getting her daughter married to a python - a wedding that has dire consequences for the girl. As these three stories unfold, another mother, Malati (Asha Bordoloi), resolves to save her newest born from the clutches of her husband Poonai (Kopil Bora) and his uncle, who have sacrificed all three of her previous babies. In doing so, she unearths a shocking truth.

Cast

Production

In an interview, writer-director Bhaskar Hazarika described the film as "a dark and moody narrative offering alternate interpretations of characters in these well known folk tales, especially the female characters."[5]

Kothanodi was filmed in two locations in Assam, the giant river island of Majuli and the riverbanks along Dergaon, over two schedules in 2014. In between, funds for the film were raised through a successful crowdfunding campaign through the crowdfunding platform Wishberry. The Kothanodi campaign has been one of the most successful campaigns in Wishberry's history.[6]

Kothanodi won the Asian Cinema Fund's Post Production Fund Award for 2015,[2] and DI and colouring of the film was done in the Korean Film Council (KOFIC) laboratory in Seoul, South Korea as part of the grant.

Release

Kothanodi had its world premiere at the 20th Busan International Film Festival held from 1 to 10 October 2015.[3] The film subsequently screened in several film festivals including 59th BFI London Film Festival,[7] 17th Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival, and the 4th Dharamshala International Film Festival. In January 2016, the film received its Nordic Premiere at the 39th Goteborg International Film Festival, where the film was screened as The River of Fables. Kothanodi and Chauranga were the only Indian films screened in that edition of the festival.[8] The film received its US premiere as an official selection at the 14th edition of the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles in April 2016.

The film is scheduled for its theatrical release in Assam and rest of India in the summer of 2016.

References

  1. ↑ "Four iconic fables to feature in film".
  2. 1 2 "Asian Cinema Fund (ACF) 2015 Selection Announced".
  3. 1 2 "Kothanodi receives rare international honour".
  4. ↑ "National Awards 2016: Complete List".
  5. ↑ "Interview with filmmaker Bhaskar Hazarika".
  6. ↑ "Crowdfunding platform Wishberry offering Indie films a new shot at funding their films".
  7. ↑ "Kothanodi at the 59th BFI LFF Programme Guide".
  8. ↑ "Nya Röster - The River of Fables".
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