Tezpur, Jan. 19: "I am immensely elated and my joy knows no bounds to come over to my birthplace again," said National Award-winning prolific actor in Assamese and Bengali films and MP from Bengal, George Baker.

He recalled his association with Tezpur, while lighting the lamp of the muhurat of Assamese feature film Seema - The Story Untold, which is based on the Chinese aggression of 1962. The film is about the panic and paranoia the people at that time felt.

Recalling the situation in 1962, Baker said the Chinese aggression was a nightmarish experience for the people on the north bank of the Brahmaputra and it was a particularly hellish time for the people of Tezpur, an otherwise sleepy little town in those days.

"As news of the fall of Bomdila in Arunachal Pradesh spread and the advancing Chinese forces reached Tezpur, there was utter chaos and confusion in the middle of which the town was ordered to be evacuated. Currency worth crores of rupees were burnt and sacks of coins were dumped into the lakes," he called.

Baker made his first foray into Assamese cinema in 1974. He played the protagonist in Chameli Memsaab, a film that won the National Award for best feature film in Assamese at the 23rd National Film Awards. He played the role of Berkeley, a British planter who falls for a native girl Chameli (played by Binita Borgohain) and is later accused of murdering her. Baker later on played the same role in the Bengali version of the film.

The muhurat was held at Circuit House here today and the event was compered by veteran actor Nipon Goswami.

National Award winner Hiren Borah is the director and producer of Seema - The Story Untold.

Attending the muhurat, Tezpur Lok Sabha MP R.P. Sharma recalled what the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had said during the aggression. "Nehru said despite our utmost efforts, I beg pardon from the people of the state because I could not save Assam. His daughter Indira Gandhi attended a camp in Udalguri and assured the people over there saying 'I am with you'," Sharma said.

He urged Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal to extend full cooperation to the making of the film.