National Film Award-winning filmmaker Hiren Bora is set to present his new Assamese and Garo-language film, ‘Phring Gital – The Dawn of a New Day’. The film focuses on social realities, community harmony and the lives of people living along the Assam-Meghalaya border.
Hiren Bora began his filmmaking journey with ‘Basundhara – The Earth’, based on his own story. The film won the Rajat Kamal (Silver Lotus) Award for Best Regional Film at the 57th National Film Awards in 2009. It also received the Rupkonwar Jyotiprasad Agarwala Award from the Government of Assam and other awards at the Assam Film Awards in 2010.
Bora later directed several films that were screened at film festivals in India and abroad. His 2014 film ‘Kshobh’, based on child psychology, was acquired by the Government of Karnataka and arrangements were made to screen it in 103 cinema halls across the state for around 1.2 million students.
His other films include ‘Seema – The Untold Story’ (2015), set against the background of the 1962 Sino-Indian conflict, ‘Baahi – The Flute’ (2017), Rabha-language film ‘Nasimai – Darling’ (2020) and ‘Borkha – The Veil’ (2024). ‘Nasimai – Darling’ received appreciation at international film festivals and won the Best Editing Award at the 2023 Sweden Film Awards. ‘Borkha – The Veil’ has also received recognition at film festivals in India and abroad.
Story of ‘Phring Gital’
The new film is set around two villages located along the Assam-Meghalaya border in the Goalpara-adjoining region. One village is mainly inhabited by the Garo community, while the other has a Rabha population.
Although the two villages are located in different states, the people share close relationships through their festivals, traditions and everyday lives. The film highlights how the political boundary between the two states has not separated the social and emotional bonds between the communities.
The film also tells the love story of a Garo young woman and a Rabha young man. Their relationship faces opposition from families, traditional values and social attitudes. The story explores the conflict between love, social identity and family expectations.
Another important part of the film deals with the human-elephant conflict in the border region. The struggle to protect farmland and livelihoods adds another layer to the lives of the people.
The film also looks at how misinformation and suspicion can create divisions among communities that have traditionally lived together peacefully.
Produced under the banner of Suravi Enterprise, the film is produced and directed by Hiren Bora. The screenplay is written by Hiren Bora and Naren Patgiri, who has also written the story and dialogues.
The Garo translation has been done by Suraj Sangma and Bhogen Momin. Malay Kumar Roy is the Associate Director and D’ Rabha is the Assistant Director. Vivek Banerjee is the cinematographer.
The technical team includes Pankaj Bezbaruah as Art Director, Bikash Barua for Background Score and Deepak Mandal and Bijoy Nath for Editing and Sound Design respectively.
The film features Barsha Rani Bishaya, Rupam Chetia, Suraj Kalita, Rayanti Rabha, Suraj Sangma, Ahid Khan Paris, Bhogen Momin, Walsrang D Shira, Amrita Marak and Nokme K Sangma, along with several other Assamese, Rabha and Garo artistes.
Currently in the final stage of technical post-production, ‘Phring Gital – The Dawn of a New Day’ explores an important question: A border may divide the land, but can it really divide human relationships?
Through its themes of love, identity, social harmony, misinformation and border life, the film aims to present the shared human experiences of communities living on both sides of the Assam-Meghalaya border.
