1st Imphal International Short Film Festival 2012 - “Maa-e-Ri – a lyrical conversation with Mother Nature” – selected as official song.

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Assamese singer and Bhojpuri icon Kalpana Patowary has defied norms and reinvented her more often than folks can remember. She is all set to win over a new generation of fans with her project “Maa-e-Ri – a lyrical conversation with Mother Nature” selected as the official song to be screenened to International audiences as the opening theme at this year’s prestigious “1^st Imphal International Short Film Festival 2012”.  The festival will take place from 15th April to 18th April 2012 at Imphal, Manipur, North Eastern India.

The “1^st Imphal International Short Film Festival 2012” is the biggest event in North East India & promoted by “Legend Studio Manipur and Action for Social Advancement (ASA) Manipur” with the support of Film Forum Manipur. IISFF 2012 will witness great short films from around the world. Manipur is a culturally rich place on the North Eastern region of India, bordering Myanmar and it is the emerging market for South East Asian nations through the Look East policy.

The festival was proposed to start by December 2011, rescheduled due to 10th Manipur Legislative Assembly Election.  

A five day cultural event will mark this prestigious festival.  So far outstanding 30  domestic films and 10 International films has been received for the screenings like OPEN DOORS by Ashish Pandey, BRIAN'S GANDHI by Ram J Saravanan, Maut Ka Kunwa by Sumant Bapurao Mali from Mumbai, Bengali film Swapno Satyakam by Tomal Chakraborti, Tamil film "SATHISH CHANDRASEKARAN B.E., MBA" by Sathish Chandrasekaran, Malayalam film "SABDAREKHA" by Nirmal S, Bengali film "Swapno Satyakam" by Tomal Chakraborti, SAMVEDANAM by Methil Komalankutty from Dubai, Iranian film "The Bare Foot Leader" Zohreh Zamani.

These films will compete in 9 categories: Best Short Film, Best Direction, Best Screenplay, Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Cinematography, Best Editor, Best music director, Three Special Mention.

The organizer hoped that such festival will explore the hidden talents of the North Eastern Region and participating filmmakers will enjoy the regional theme and issues which would be share for a better future.

“Maa-e-Ri – a lyrical conversation with Mother Nature” with a unique concept where Kalpana Patowary symbolically plays the human race is produced & conceived by the creative heads of MUSIC BOX STUDIOS. Kalpana banks on mystic North East which focus on the pristine beauty of North East India. This video takes the viewers on a journey through some of the minimally visited locales of the Northeast and presents the North east in all its beauty and grandeur. The videos have been shot in locales like Dawki in Meghalaya, Mawlynong village, Cherapunjee, etc. The video highlights the significance of the locales through the videos. For instance, Mawlyngnong is regarded to be one of the cleanest villages in India. “The rich sites of this village have been captured in frame, which obviously will whet the senses of an adventurous traveller. The tiny village, otherwise unknown to most people of the world, will now be featured in this video, which will get an edge in the tourism map. The Living Root Bridge, a phenomenon to be seen to be believed is something that tourism buffs will be attracted to after seeing the video, which will be a class apart in its league. A part of the video has also been shot in Cherrapunjee, once the wettest place on earth,” says Kalpana. Mae-e-Ri, apart from portraying the rich tapestry of some of the places of the Northeast has also laid ample emphasis on the costumes, which is an array of attractive colours from the looms of the Northeast. The first costume that Kalpana has worn for her video is an ensemble inspired from one of the tribes of Nagaland. The video captures traditionally garbed Naga tribesmen performing to the beat of Kalpana’s song. “We have also used costumed from Assam, a dress unique to the Darrang District. This costume is mostly worn by the women during the performance of the Deodhani Nritya on the auspicious day of Ma Manasha Puja,” says Kalpana. The Deodhani dance is performed either solo or in a group of three to four women essentially on the occasion of the worship of Godesses Manasha. As per myth, Behula had to dance before Goddess Manasha in order to get back her husband’s life. The dancers wear Mekhela-Sador, the unique and traditional attire of the women of Assam. This ethnic ensemble is a two piece dress, with the mekhela being the lower part or the skirt from waist down, which is pleated in two to three folds. This is topped up by a blouse. The Sador is a longish piece of cloth, which is again wrapped very gracefully over the blouse and right across the front of the torso to be folded delicately into the mekhela. The motifs woven into the mekhela-sador are usually inspired by objects from nature, like birds, flowers, trees, etc

Kalpana, who shot the entire part of this music video in North East, expressed her pride in belonging to the northeast. "I make it a point to tell people in Bollywood that I belong to the northeast. A tribute to Mother Earth, Let us return to nature because only in nature can the spirit of mankind be found meaningful.”Says Kalpana, this music video has been receiving some great response and this is a global issue and deserves all attention possible. I enjoyed the entire phase of the making of “Maa-e-Ri – a lyrical conversation with Mother Nature”— and I am really proud of my project.