Sanjib Sabhapandit is in conversation with Utpal Datta about Assamese cinema, purpose-driven filmmaking, cultural identity, audience reach, financing, artistic responsibility, and the challenges facing filmmakers today, in a wide-ranging exploration of cinema and society.

I think straight, write straight and talk straight — Sanjib Sabhapandit

In this conversation, Utpal Datta discusses various aspects of the film and Sabhapandit’s filmmaking. What follows is an edited selection from this conversation with Sabhapandit.

Sanjib Sabhapandit is a filmmaker whose creative journey spans cinema, literature, culture, and social concerns. A mechanical engineer with an MBA, he began his association with cinema as an actor in Jahnu Barua’s acclaimed Kushal. He later directed films such as Juye Poora Xoon, Jaatingaa Et Al, Jaangfaai Joonaak (From the Shadow of Silence), Jeeyaa Jurir Xubaax (The Pulsating Mindscape) and Dikchow Banat Palaax (The Way of the Soul).

His films have been selected for the Indian Panorama and screened at several major film festivals. Juye Poora Xoon received the National Award for Best Film on Environment, while Jeeyaa Jurir Xubaax won the State Award for Best Director. Dikchow Banat Palaax received the National Award for Best Film on National Integration in 2016.

Alongside feature films, Sabhapandit has made documentaries exploring the culture, people and heritage of Northeast India, including a 90-episode series covering the region’s eight states. His body of work reflects a sustained engagement with Assam’s cultural memory, social realities and creative traditions.

His latest Assamese feature, Aakaas Henoo Nadeer Naam (Ballad to the Winds), is now ready for its theatrical release. As in his earlier works, the film engages with a range of social concerns.

Cinematic Language Vs Narrative Content

First things first. I am not a trained filmmaker. So, I am devoid of knowledge of the many intricate details and nuances of filmmaking. All my life, I have relied on my senses, experiences and learnings from the world.

In Assam, people like me are driven by concepts, themes, and emotions to make a cultural product more than a commercial product. I, therefore, think and select themes for my films that reflect my values. So, I write my own stories, scripts and direct the film. Then, I make the film as cinematically good as possible. Here again, since I am a writer at the core, the narrative contents tend to take an upper hand; but I know that a film has its own language of expression, so, I take the reins quite ruthlessly.

I also realise that filmmaking is a very costly proposition— financially, emotionally, physically and time-wise. So, I have given word to myself that such a costly product should not be cheap in value— taste, meaning, content, life (survival in public memory) and perception.

I have made viewing good films a habit, to the extent possible. Therefore, I can understand what a good film contains in terms of treatment, camera use, actors’ liberties and believability in telling the story, the role of editing and music, pre-production preparations, selection of locations, sites, and actors. I also understand that a film is a result of collective effort. I take good care in building up the proper team for a particular film.

All these, I believe, have resulted in a reasonable degree of quality in all my films. All my films are strongly content-driven, but I have never allowed the narratives to overshadow the cinematic visualisation. I have also not allowed myself to indulge in unnecessary artistic play.

Dual Themes

Firstly, (Ballad to the Winds / Aakaax Henoo Nadeer Naam) it is not a queer film. Secondly, I am not trying to bridge any gap between the old or traditional and the new or modern.

The Brajaavalee language gives importance to the concept of collectiveness and inclusivity. This is interpreted (and evident too) from the general use of the words “we” or “our” in preference to the words “I” or “me”. Even if the “I” or “me” is uttered, then also it is used with humility and submission. The “I” or “me” points towards self-centeredness or selfishness.

I have drawn an inference from life that most of the problems, pains, agonies, disturbances, differences, and conflicts arise because of our unnecessary tilt towards self-centeredness. But if we take an attitude of inclusivity, accommodativeness, and respect for others’ views, then the world or life becomes better and more enjoyable. Therefore, I decided that yes, this aspect of the language needs to be brought into focus, and the language can be made a character in a film. In this sense, I felt that through Brajaavalee, Assam can show a path towards peace for the whole of humanity. Assam can be a torchbearer for the bleeding humanity.

With this philosophy in mind, I brought two boys of same-sex romantic alliance into a traditional rural Assamese set-up and created a situation in which the magnanimity of the rural people, who are bathed in the culture of Brajaavalee / inclusivity, leads to acceptance. The Assamese society, even otherwise, is also very receptive because of its inherent traditions of Buddhism and the existence of an egalitarian society born out of the teachings of Mahaapurux Sankardev and Maadhabdev.

A same-sex alliance is not uncommon at all in our society. It has been there all along. Only societal strictures kept the phenomenon under the lid. In the modern liberal ambience created by the all-pervading technologies of communication - explosion of information and knowledge and breakdown of barriers - it has simply come to more visibility. Assamese society has the capability of accepting these aberrations. This capability is emboldened by the philosophy of the Brajaavalee language.

Personal Genesis:

I have had several experiences of meeting and spending time with transgender people, lesbians, gays and such people. Sex is the most fundamental and primitive instinct of all living creatures. Considering the number of earthlings all over the globe and the strictures of all societies to make life decent by some hypothetical yet time-tested standards, I am reasonably convinced that some aberrations here and there are bound to exist, and we are nobody to pass any judgment on anybody if it does not lead to the collapse of basic human values. Moreover, it is not a present-day or modern phenomenon either. History is replete with such narratives in all religions and all societies. Since my childhood, in our villages, in our Sattras, I have seen many such characters/persons.

The Columnist And The Filmmaker In Me

The filmmaker in me is not drastically different from the writer in me. Both run parallel to each other. But I shed my cloak of the commentator and occasional judge (that appears in my writings) in my films. I make very few films, as you might have noticed)—only 6 feature films in a span of 22 years (2003-2025).

I think a lot and am very careful not to mix the two persons. Writing, for me, is something I can’t escape. It relieves me of a lot of pain and angst in my existence in this beautiful yet cruel world. But filmmaking enriches me. It is a practical but surreal experience to create and recreate and give birth to a child. I feel like a mother yet fathering a child. Now, after making more than 200 documentaries, short films, travelogues, I now feel that I am a person of the audio-visual medium too. It helps me to understand myself better, to see the world better, to study man better and, most importantly, it helps me in remaining rooted to reality. It has enormously helped my development as a writer too.

Financing Of Purpose-Driven Cinema

Adoor Gopalkrishnan made films long 7 years after completing his FTII course and after working and travelling through villages, showing and educating the Malayali people to see and develop a culture of going to see good films. Assam never did such things. So, the base is not here.

The intellectual stimulation that Bengal created through its art movements, literary experimentation, exposure to European aesthetics and filmmaking amongst its generally literate class, created a fertile ground for probing cinema to be made and experienced there. Assam belonged to a sleepy intellectual life, and very seldom was grinding surgery done on anything creative.

I am making Assamese films in this scenario where there are almost no critics of quality, no cinema hall to bring in the revenue, and an abysmally poor number of connoisseurs of good cinema. Extremism—fragmented societies and minds infested with petty and narrow values - disappearing book-reading cultures—all have contributed to the degradation of the Assamese cultural canvas. Cinema is a mere example.

Therefore, I make films of my type only with the intention of creating good cultural ‘objects’ for Assam that define my time, place, and people, not for awards or for the sake of pure art. I am fortunate to have been associated with good people who have the required financial means and are responsive to my values, which eventually become our common shared value.

I make low-budget films. These do not run in cinema halls, so we incur losses. However, we have taken on other projects, and the revenue from these has offset some of these losses. Nevertheless, we take satisfaction in knowing that something good and meaningful has been created, and like a good book, it will last through time. As a corollary to this, it is all the more apparent that producers or financiers of good value-driven, intensely themed Assamese cinema are few and far between. Pure entertainment can also be a purpose to make a film. But that entertainment should also have some cerebral value. Such themes are not born in our minds.

In short, Assam has a very small number of good audiences, even fewer good cinema creators and a negligible number of people with the courage to back a brilliant script.

Market, Audience And Reach

Progress and development of technology (more particularly the multimedia explosion) have been such phenomenal (wide, diverse & exponential) that the tastes of the people towards entertainment and life-style (food, dress, houses, books, communication, relationships, etc.) have metamorphosed beyond recognition. Excitement, mystery, violence, speed, special effects are the order of the day.

Again, like all businesses - warfare industry, medicine, Processed Food, Textiles, Steel, Automobiles, cell phones, etc., entertainment industry has also gone into the hands of big business houses. Even many film festivals are also mafia-controlled and business-driven.

An Assamese film hardly gets 30-40 cinema halls for theatrical screening and that too for a few days only. It is not sufficient to form a base for the return on the investment. Naturally, the producer does not feel inclined to spend more than the bare minimum on publicity. A calculation for a normal film like mine should explicitly hammer this point. Rs 100 per ticket (after entertainment tax) x 100 persons per show x 7 shows x 30 cinema halls bring in Rs 21 lakhs. Deduct the hall rents, UFO/streaming charge, publicity/poster charge, press expenses totalling Rs 5-6 lakh. This is the naked picture. The distributors suggest only 23 cinema halls these days for Assamese films!

Moreover, about 60-70% of the political geography of Assam is not Assam. Boroland, the Barak Valley, the Dima Hasao area, the Karbi Anglong area, the westernmost Assam are not Assam from a film distributor’s point of view.

The remaining portion of Assam also just exists. It has no power, energy and strength to sustain any cultural object. We will find lakhs of people weeping for or in the name of Zubin Garg, but not a single person can be found who redeems himself or herself to work 18 hours a day as Zubin did.

When there was no advent of television or internet (i.e. in the 1970s, 80s, 90s), some Assamese films could run to recover the cost of making. These were mostly films based on family dramas. Cinematic excellence first came through Jahnu Barua and then, of late, through Rima Das. Regional best film awards are not very special because one out of a few Assamese films is not a real competition result.

With the advent of OTT platforms (Amazon Prime, Netflix, etc.) streaming very high-quality content, the situation for regional films has become more aggressive.

That being the case, some good Assamese films, here and there, will continue to be made occasionally and survive, as hope cannot die.

Assamese Cinema In The National Arena

At the national arena, many Assamese filmmakers and film personalities have made their mark because of their individual talents and a bit of good luck or right connections. This will continue to happen. A film is a very powerful audio-visual medium that harbours substantial power of transformation, provided people get to see it.

The few award-winning Assamese films are rarely seen by the people of Assam for reasons deliberated above. The news appears in newspapers, people feel proud, and if luck permits, then the maker gets a public reception. Here our story ends. But a film is to be viewed and definitely not only to be read about. The basic purpose of a film—the enrichment and enticement of the mind, is defeated.

Earlier, there was a provision for national telecast of all the award-winning regional-language films through Doordarshan. It was a good thing, and a diverse country like India needed these for better understanding and appreciation of different ethnicities and cultures.

Some good Assamese films made by youngsters in recent times have made a mark in different Indian film festivals. Although the glass ceilings have not been broken, yet, the footprints of Assamese cinema are being acknowledged in the country. But, frankly speaking, we have miles to go before we reach any commendable level of achievement. Assam today is not a fertile ground for such adventures to say the least.

Recognition And Artistic Responsibility 

I love and enjoy my work. I am substantially indifferent to formal recognition or awards. Although all my works have social significance, the pleasure is mine. So, nobody should reward me for my pleasure.

I don’t basically like the idea of me being judged by somebody. I learnt from my mother to live for others as I was born from others, and that’s it. Nobody should get adversely affected because of me. Everyone around me should get something from me, as I firmly believe that it takes a village to make a man (Bob Dylan song). I am not what I am because of me only. Many people have, directly or indirectly, contributed to my formation, however humble it might be.

I am alert and clear that I am not influenced by any adulation, praise, awards, and the like. So, selection of my works – be it a topic for writing, a product for designing, a story for a film — are my conscious decisions and totally oblivious of any public glare. I think straight, write straight and talk straight. I don’t fear any criticism. I don’t stay at any place where I am not liked. I take full responsibility for my work.

I have my own standards and I don’t expect the censor board to tell me what I should depict in my films. I have done substantially meaningful work so far, like the establishment of Axam Jaateeya Bidyalaya, the APOL textile project, designing and making a floating flood relief camp named Mother Shelter, a municipal solid waste segregation machine, a flood erosion prevention device and many more.

I travel extensively. I have contacts amongst tribal people, amongst immigrants, amongst the Bengalees, amongst Hindi-speaking communities, as well as in tea-garden communities. I have remained a technocrat all along, having a bent for writing and a passion for filmmaking. I am blessed with abundant work all the time, and my work guides me.