GUWAHATI
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A 19-minute-long animation film on an iconic Ahom general written and directed by an Indian Police Service officer in Assam has been selected for the Indian Panorama section of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) 2023 to be held in Goa.
Lachit: The Warrior, the film showcasing the heroics of Lachit Barphukan revered in Assam for preventing the Mughals from capturing Assam in the 1600s, would be screened on November 21 for a global audience.
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Large swathes of present-day Assam were then under the Ahoms who reigned for 600 years until the arrival of the British in the 1820s. Lachit commanded the Ahom army.
“The film traces the genesis of the military commander’s ancestry, his charismatic personality, his dexterous skills in diplomacy and naval warfare, physical prowess, unmatched valour, and most importantly, his resolute sense of patriotism,” writer-director Partha Sarathi Mahanta, the Deputy Inspector General (Administration) of Police said.
“It chronologically narrates the unfolding of events, starting with the launching of a series of onslaughts against the invading Mughals,” he said.
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Under Lachit, Guwahati was won back from the Mughals in September-October, 1667. After a series of intermittent skirmishes, the military campaign ended in the battle of Saraighat (1671), where the Mughals were beaten decisively.
Produced by Mina Mahanta and Indrani Baruah, the film was screened and awarded at 10 film festivals in India and abroad this year. They include the 15th Jaipur International Film Festival, the 6th South Asian Short Film Festival in Kolkata, the Kollywood International Film Festival in Chennai, and the Newborn Short Film Festival in Berlin.
The narration in the film is by Amarjyoti Choudhury, music by Rupam Talukdar, VFX by Ratul Dutta, and storyboarding and illustration by Hrishikesh Bora. Anupam Mahanta is the creative director.