Village Rockstars

Shot in the backdrop of Assam, this movie is in itself a representation of the day-to-day life of a tiny village with true blend of all the rural colours to the movie. The movie brings about how can we stay positive even in difficult times. Director Rima Das has been successful in depicting the true lives with minimal budget but with maximum quality. 10 year old Dhunu is always a livewire who likes to hang around and play with boys, but is often opposed and bullied by the age old thinking of the male-dominated society. After the death of her father, Dhunu and his elder brother are brought up by their mother (Basanti), who despite all the odds, toils hard to make both the ends meet. The movie also showcases the neglected part of the rural Assam, which gets devastated by floods  every year, the same flood which took the life of Dhunu's father. Dhunu and her friends are always longing to form a band, but due to their financial situations they had to get contented with guitars made of thermocol. Out of eagerness, Dhunu conveys her wish, of buying a guitar, to her mother and interestingly, she doesn't scold Dhunu for making such huge wish, but instead goes around the market to find a musical instrument repair shop for inquiring about the cost of a guitar. Basanti wholeheartedly supports and defends her daughter, going against the traditional thinking of the society, by allowing her to fly freely. It was when Dhunu comes across a newspaper article, which speaks about staying positive to get your wishes fulfilled in life, she starts to think more positively. She goes from house to house of the village to harvest betel nuts and saves every rupee inside a bamboo to fulfill her dream. The movie sends a strong message ,when laments on seeing all the crops drowned in the flood waters and her mother in reply says that work is worship and hard work is what they can do. After  Dhunu enters womanhood, she is being plucked from her free world to a world of restrictions. In all the rituals celebrating her entry into womanhood, she is seen sitting without her wish and her eyes showing desire to return to her carefree world. The movie ends with a sudden note, when Basanti gifts Dhunu a guitar, and she starts playing with it with all her friends. This end clearly shows the out of the box thinking shown by Rima Das, otherwise it would had been a cliched Bollywood movie. The gifting of guitar becomes a positive note to sign off, as it shows the love of a mother and true optimism filled inside their hearts. "Richest person is the one who has no greed" - Rima Das puts forward this concept in an awesome manner.