It is a labour of love. It took precisely nine months to complete. An Assamese film Raag, the rhythm of love, written and directed by filmmaker Rajni Basumatary will be released on February 7, 2014.
Assamese cinema lovers seem to have a lot of expectations from this movie. And its not without reason. One, there seems to be a serious vacuum of meaningful cinema in Assam these days. Two, Raag is dealing with the very contemporary subject of modern day relationships expressed through music and art. The entire film has been shot lavishly in various locations in Delhi. Its music is completely mesmerizing and upbeat. Many of the songs have a contemporary feel, but are based on traditional Indian Classical music. Such artistic mix has been seen rarely in Assamese cinema in the past. Three, the casting of Raag is no less than a 'casting coupe'.
Acting stalwarts like Adil Hussain, Zerifa Wahid, Kenny Basumatary and Kopil Bora will be seen together in Raag, weaving the particular characters they have been given to play, like a dream. Four, the film has purportedly turned out to be technically and aesthetically nothing less than brilliant. One of the top cinematographers of India, Ajayan Vincent has worked in this film as a cinematographer.
Raag…the rhythm of love is a story of Radhika, a charming Hindustani singer; Iqbal, a gifted painter; Alok, a corporate executive; Natalie, an Opera flutist from Prague and Partho, a musician with an electrifying personality. Their life is interlinked as they come across each other’s path at different stages of life. It is a story of compassion, friendship and human emotion narrated with honesty and simplicity.
Rajni has written and produced a highly acclaimed Assamese feature film, Anurag that received Assam State Film Awards in 2007. She has worked as Executive Producer in a yet-to-be released Hindi feature film called Story of my Life. Her journey in film making began by assisting national award winning director BidyutChakravarty and noted film maker, Muzaffar Ali. She worked with Mr Ali as his Chief Assistant Director for several high profile and creative projects such as a short film, Bharat Ka Lal: Lal Bahadur Shashtri, a mega TV serial based on Urdu Classic Poets.
She has a production house called Manna Films based in Delhi and has made several documentaries and corporate films of high quality. Rajni received ‘Best Producer Award’ for the year 2007 from Christian Broadcasting Network, Virginia Beach, USA. Rajni studied Assamese Literature from Handique Girl’s College and further did a management course on International Airlines and Travel Management from Trade Wings Institute of Management. She has also done a Management in Communication Skills from British Council, New Delhi.
Rajni was a regular contributor to The Assam Tribune, The Sentinel, The North East Times and some Assames dailies and periodicals between year 1990 to year 1997. She has been very active in cultural and other creative fields since her college days. She strongly believes that social change can be brought to community through creativity.
Those few who have been privileged enough to have a sneak peek of the film feel that the director Rajni Basumatary has been able to successfully bring together a bunch of talented technical hands and artistic souls as a cogent crew to successfully create a compelling film in the form of Raag, the rhythm of love. The music of the film is one of its most prominent features. The music composer Avinash Baghel is indeed expected to gift Assamese film some memorable music and songs.
The film has been produced by Assam State Films (Finance & Development) Corporation Pvt.Ltd. in association with Manna Films.