Director: M.A. Singh; Cinematographer: Suresh Patel; Cast: A. Memi, Master Tony, Somorendra, Manao, Upen, Ingochouba, Anwar Ali, Shahnawaz Khan, Holkhomang, Ibechaobi, Bijoy, Meena, Meim Chaoba, Maharaj Okendrajit, G. Ibeyaima Devi
Summary: Melodrama featuring criminal violence in
Imphal, the (for most Indians) exotic capital of
Manipur. It addresses issues like
unemployment, drugs and the nexus between
an oppressive state power and an entrenched
feudal elite through the story of a widow,
Nungshi (Memi), and her son Ibungobi (Master
Tony). When the independent-minded Nungshi
is gang-raped and becomes a crazed beggar,
her son joins a group of criminals operating in
Imphal’s ‘Golden Market’. Ibungobi eventually
realises that the beggar is his mother, but is too
late to help her even though one of his criminal
friends is a local politician. Shot under very
difficult conditions, the film is a courageous
effort to go beyond the exotic and miserabilist
stories featured in many art-house films
originating in India’s smaller film industries
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