A scene from Elisa amagi mahao

Elisa amagi mahao (Taste of a hilsa), showcases the command of Ningthouja Lancha, a successful young Manipuri filmmaker, over storytelling on celluloid.

The 26-minute -film has been selected for screening in the Munich Film Festival to be held in June and July next year as part of a special showcase focusing on contemporary Indian films.

The film is based on N. Kunjamohan’s Sahitya Akademi award-winning short story by the same name. The story is based and the film shot against the backdrop of the life of Meiteis settled near the bank of the Barak in Cachar district.

The storyline — a family’s struggle to earn two square meals a day — is simple. It is a treatise on the conflict between the struggle for survival and the mental mirage marginalised people live in to survive.

Chaoba (played by N. Rajen Meitei) struggles to feed his ailing wife and three children by fishing in the Barak. After many days, Chaoba and his son Mani (played by little Ningthouja Lanjen Lancha) catch a hilsa.

In their joy, they stop fishing and rush home to cook hilsa curry. The father decides that the family should celebrate the occasion by inviting his married daughter, who is in an advanced stage of pregnancy (a tradition in Meitei society), to their home. The family, however, does not get to taste the hilsa as Chaoba must sell the prize catch to but rice.

Chaoba does a fine job of displaying the moods and sentiments of a poor father. Ningthouja, though young, has performed excellently.

The scenic locations — the film is shot on the banks of the Barak — keep the audience spellbound. There is not much dialogue, but the little that is there underscores the life of a poor man. Chaoba’s expressions and body language convey the emotions of a man who is unable to change his condition despite a hard struggle.

The images portray the arid life and invisible agonies of the protagonists who constantly blame themselves for their misfortune. The disappointment of Chaoba’s second son, Mukta, enacted by Senjam Khangamba, when the fish was taken away by the buyer wrenches the hearts of the audience. Lancha, who created waves with Mammi Sammi, is expected to win rave reviews when Elisa amagi mahao is screened in Munich.