"LAKSHYAHIRA – A BIO-DOCUMENTARY,"

Each documentary film teaches us something new and informs us about someone or something we do not know even exist in the very country we live in. We know very little about the filmmakers either, which speaks rather poorly about the lack of widespread screenings of these films across the length and breadth of the country. Today, these films are often screened at online film festivals dedicated to documentary and short films. But lack of marketing and publicity due to lack of funds make these festival screenings almost unknown among their potential audiences.

            One such extremely significant bio-documentary Lakshahira, is a tribute to the great singer, musician, poet and lyricist of Assam, Lakshyahira Das. Says Namrata Datta who has produced and directed the film, “Even at 94, Dr. Lakshahira Das inspires those who seek a balanced life encompassing hard work, art, and social responsibility. My film pays tribute to this extraordinary individual.” Lakshyahira was 94 when Datta shot the film in real locations but she passed away soon after. But her command over music, over her own songs, over the musical instruments she handled to go along with her singing, are astonishingly timeless.

Image: Film Poster

            There are shots of the old gramophone instrument rotating its 78 rpm records belting out the songs the lady had sung over the years. Despite her 94 years, director Namrata Datta has been able to capture her on camera, talking about her personal life, her memories of her musical journey through the years with a dignity that seems to be an inborn quality in this regal personality. According to Datta, “Lakshahira Das inspires those who seek a balanced life encompassing hard work, art, and social responsibility. My film pays tribute to this extraordinary individual.”

            Who is Namrata Datta who produced and directed the film? Namrata Datta is a published author, media person, novelist, and translator. After spending a long time in Government and Private Radio, she shifted to TV and joined print media. Under a senior fellowship from the Ministry of Culture, she researched India’s Freedom Movement reflected in Assamese songs. Her novel, Kathopakathan, was translated into Bangla and published in Bangladesh. Parvez Ahmed made a short film in English based on a part of the novel. Namrata Datta was the first translator to translate Gulzar’s poetry into Assamese. She also translated Gulzar’s memoirs into Assamese. Lakshahira is her debut film. It took her 18 months from concept to final censor certificate to complete the film.

  Image: Filmmaker Namrata Datta

            Explaining the inspiration behind making a short documentary on Lakhshyahira Das, Datta explains, “I have been listening to her songs since my childhood and reading her books as part of the college curriculum. I also read other books written by her, as well as many books about her. Since then, I have been very curious about her. When I met her up close in 2000, my connection with her deepened. Gradually, the bond got closer over time. She was an educationist, writer, lyricist, singer, and scholar. I felt that she did not receive the level of social recognition she deserved from our people. Therefore, I decided to share Baideu’s story with the people, especially the new generation. With this in mind, I decided to make this film.”

            As Dr. Das who was a professor at a college in Assam and headed one of the literature departments was available to talk to the director about her personal life, the camera pans across old photographs in Black-and-White of a younger Lakshyahira Das with her husband, and children too, over time and space as she narrates how supportive her family and husband have been in her music as well as academic careers. The camera sweeps over libraries, books with their jackets, records and old photographs creating a collage of the evolution of this multi-talented woman who no one perhaps has even heard of outside Assam.

            Lakshyahira Das, captured on camera by Datta when she was alive, even in her Nineties, draped in a beautiful white sari, her forehead decorated with the traditional bindi, her hair tied in the back, looks the very personification of dignity despite her wrinkled skin. When she plays on the harmonium, her gnarled hands picking on the keys, captured in close shots, one understands the essence of this brilliant woman. The music track spills over with lines from some of her songs picked from different schools of music, adding to the rich tapestry of the film. Director Datta keeps her focus totally and singularly on her subject – Lakshyahira Das not once diverting her attention to other areas of creativity.

            Asked about the painstaking research Datta engaged in for the film, she explains, “to be honest, my research on the person began in childhood, when I grew up reading her books as part of our course and listening to her songs on the radio and gramophone records. I also used to read her various articles and translated stories. After meeting her personally, I began to discover the person I had known since childhood. I discussed various issues with her during our meetings. Those conversations became valuable resources for my film.”

            Datta is happy that she was able to make the film the way she had envisioned it. Lakshyahira, the film has been screened in many colleges and universities. It has reached the young generation of Assam. The Government of Assam has also screened it in a unique tribute programme just after her demise. The film also  won the Best Director award at the Belghoria Film Festival.

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