Ariensa Longchar and Rongsentiba Longkumer outside Fun Cinema in Dimapur on May 27.
Morung Express News
Dimapur | May 28
After much fanfare and hype created around the movie, ‘Anek’ starring Ayushmann Khuranna and Andrea Kevichusa, the movie premiered on the big screen on May 27. The film, taking a peculiar approach towards brushing upon the socio-political issues of the Northeast region, has a considerable number of local talents being a part of the story, aside from the lead actress. These include Naga fan favourites, Ariensa Longchar and Rongsentiba Longkumer from Dreamz Unlimited, Nagaland playing supporting roles.
On Friday evening, after the movie premier, The Morung Express had the opportunity to speak with the two actors about their roles and experiences on set and off-set during the filming of the movie.
In the first place, they explained that during the period of 2019, an open audition was held at Hotel Saramati, Dimapur for the casting of the film. “We heard the news about the open audition and we were approached to try for it if we were interested so that’s basically how we got the roles for the film,” said Longkumer.
Longchar noted that the responsibility for casting the members was done by Mukesh Chhabra, known for his contributions in films such as Dil Bechara (2020), Gangs of Wasseypur (2012), Bombay Velvet (2015) and the like. “There were around 10-15 other Naga actors along with us, who got selected to be in the film,” he added.
Post-audition, they were called up to Kaziranga from where they were given ‘heavy military training,’ for 3-4 days in preparation for their respective roles. “We didn’t have any clue about the story or script of the movie before-hand as we were only junior-actors so they just told us that we were to act in military roles, which needed to be as realistic as possible,” Longkumer said.
For their roles, they noted that they weren’t provided with much dialogue to say however, “there were a lot of action scenes during our parts which we certainly enjoyed.”
Professionalism and work ethics
On discussions revolving around their experiences on set and off-set during the shooting of the film, they held high opinions on the level of professionalism and work ethics that the crew maintained during the entire period.
“As an actor it was an enriching experience, the opportunities that the movie industry provides to so many individuals was very telling. From make-up artists to taxi drivers, everyone plays a big part in how a movie is filmed so there’s definitely a huge potential to employ a lot of people,” Longchar observed.
“The experience was really profound and it really opened my eyes as they took their work very seriously,” Longkumer noted.
They both agreed that for the movie industry to grow in the state, people should come out of their comfort-zones and be exposed to working with different individuals from outside the state.
“Movie is not just for entertainment purpose, it directly or indirectly contributes to the economy or society of a state or region, say in the realm of tourism,” Longchar mentioned.
“But one positive trait I saw among our Naga youths who took part in the film was our quickness in learning instructions,” he noted.
Longkumer disclosed that a good number of Naga stunt-men and other professionals are also already working in Bollywood, “it’s just that we don’t hear about them on the news.”
Setback in pacing and screenplay
On the other hand, speaking on their personal reviews of the film, the two actors admit that it lacked many aspects in terms of pacing, screenplay and emotional attachments.
As Longkumer confesses, “I went so excitedly to watch the movie since it was about the political and military unrest of our region and expected an in-depth story of it however the narrative was only from their perspective.”
He adds, “I would’ve appreciated it more if they went a little deeper into the background as there was no genesis to the story; and so they were unable to provide justice.”
Nevertheless, he feels optimistic that maybe somewhere in another corner of the world, someone would resonate with the film so there’s hope and this is just the new beginning.
“In one sentence, it was like they were trying to fit a whole bag of rice into a small pressure cooker so I didn’t really appreciate the screenplay and the script that much,” he commented.
For Longchar he shared that the movie lacked a sense of emotional attachment, “but I feel the overall cinematography was great.”
In-spite of the shortcomings, he opined that everyone’s taste and view-points will be different “so I encourage you all to go and watch it to see what lessons one can learn from it.”
Future projects and opportunities
The two actors also hinted that they are always open to other projects in the future “if the opportunity comes our way.”
They observed that the state has a lot of possibilities as there are no shortage of talents however, “It is just the lack of resources and a good dearth of producers that’s holding us back otherwise we would love to make more films in the future.”
