Lagatar24 Desk
Ranchi, April 26: Cinema presents man and his life in society. It can assist us in better understanding our own lives, the lives of those around us, and even the functioning of our society and culture.
They can also shed light on political and spiritual issues, providing perspective, as well as opening our minds to new ways of thinking, feeling, and living.
One such example is Priyakanta Laishram’s ‘Oneness’, Manipur’s first gay movie which is going to release this year. The trailer for the full-length feature film was unveiled last week. It is based on the purported honour killing of a gay youth in Manipur in 2013.
Priyakanta Laishram, who came out as gay in 2019, says he learned about the incident through a YouTube talk show he started in 2020, when he returned to Imphal from college in Chandigarh, during the first pandemic lockdown.
“Up Close with Priyakanta Laishram” is a talk show that tackles a variety of social problems, including gender and the LGBTQ community.
The prominent award-winning Manipuri filmmaker made his first short film on his Nokia phone when he was just 11 years old. Now, he is 24 and has worked on multiple docu-features, short films and is set to direct Manipur’s first same-sex film.
The two boys’ family, according to Laishram, pushed them to undergo conversion therapy. In an attempt to re-baptize him, the youngster was subjected to exorcisms and immersed in water. The victim, on the other hand, kept a detailed account of what happened in a notebook, on which the film is based.
Laishram claims that when he first announced the film, he received threats from the victim’s neighbourhood.
“I changed the name of the character, and chose Martin as his surname…very carefully, after research, so as to not hurt the sentiments of any community. Martin is not a name that is commonly used,’’ he said.
This was not the first time Laishram has been threatened because of his profession. Earlier, he was threatened for a short film on male sexuality and child sexual assault which was released in 2018.
Insurgent groups who operate as moral police impose restrictions on Manipuri movies. Meitei-centric valley organizations banned Hindi films in the state in 2002. Imphal’s movie theatres have closed. Manipuri cinema was subjected to restrictions, including the need that lead characters wear traditional attire, that plots be traditional, and that dream sequences and fancies be avoided.
Having faced abuse and discrimination for his sexuality and predilection for wearing make-up in school and college in his home state as well as other cities, Laishram claims that it was through making movies that he began the process of accepting himself.
