Assam: Kenny Basumatary's 'Jiya' premiered at Brahmaputra Valley Film Festival

Guwahati:  Assamese filmmaker Kenny Basumatary’s latest directorial ‘Jiya’ premiered at the 8th Brahmaputra Valley Film Festival at Jyoti Chitraban in Guwahati on Friday.

Written and Produced by Sarmistha Chakravorty, ‘Jiya’ is about a young woman (Jiya) who having escaped an abusive marriage, navigates the challenges of single motherhood with her daughter Nupur.

Struggling against societal judgment, Jiya conceals her vulnerability behind a resilient façade. Pallavi, her steadfast friend, becomes a crucial pillar of support. Jiya leaves a toxic job only to find solace in Pallavi’s workplace, where she encounters the courteous Abhi. What happens next?

‘Jiya’ is based on the life of a single mother. The humiliation she gets from the society, the pressure from her parents to get married again, her daughter’s wish to have a father in her life, the perspective of some male that they can try her out since she is single…the story goes on. There are twists in the story which makes it really interesting.

Speaking about her debut as a film producer, Sarmistha Chakravorty said: “At first, it was just a small dream of acting in a serious role. Since I have so many single mother friends around me, I thought of writing a script based on that. Then I somehow managed the expenditure needed for the shoot. With the help of selfless support from Kenny and our team, we managed to shoot the film.”

“Actually, I got support from everyone. From Angarag Papon Mahanta, Shankuraj Konwar, Maitrayee Patar, Chandana Pathak, Raj Dweep, Swapna Jyoti Thengal, Eepsita Hazarika to each and everyone involved. Music production was done free of cost at home since my husband Ambar Das has composed, produced the songs and did the background score. This is how I could manage. Making of this film was possible only because of the unconditional love and support I received from everyone,” she said.

The film features in the competition section at the 8th Brahmaputra Valley Film Festival.

Highlighting the performance of the cast, director Kenny Basumatary said: “’Jiya’ is my first non-comedy, non-action film. It’s a serious film but absolutely not boring. This is a romantic drama and I am very happy to say that the cast - Sarmistha, Reeky, Eepsita and others - they performed so well that I am sure Sarmistha will be eligible for several best actor awards.”

The music of the film is by Ambar Das, DOP Suruj Deka and editor Raktim Ranjan Basumatary. The lead cast includes Sarmistha Chakravorty, Reeky Sharma, Eepsita Hazarika and child actor Aradhya Mahanta.