Jahnu Barua dedicates retrospective to late producer friend

Panaji: National-award winning filmmaker Jahnu Barua dedicated his retrospective of films to his friend and producer Sailadhar Baruah, with whom he has collaborated on seven critically acclaimed Assamese movies.

The 'Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara' helmer, whose latest Assamese movie 'Ajeyo' (Invincible) opened the screening of eight films' retrospective at the ongoing International Film Festival of India, said his late friend was responsible for his growth in the showbiz industry.

Sailadhar died on January 10, 2010

"One of my producer friends Sailadhar Baruah, who had produced seven of my films, is responsible for making me who I am today. He was a huge support because of him such a shy guy like me could do so many films. I want to dedicate this whole retrospective to him," Jahnu said.

The 62-year-old director also credited his crew members for immense support and hard work.

"Some few unit members who have worked with me throughout are here today. I wanted to express my gratitude towards all my unit members. They contributed selflessly for my films," Jahnu said.

His retrospective will give an overview of his work right from his first film in 1982 to his latest project. It will also show how the Assamese filmmaker evolved over the period of time through his mature contents in films.

"I am very thankful to IFFI for having my retrospective of eight films and today the screening will commence with my latest film 'Ajeyo'. The retrospective will give an overview of the time I started till now. I wanted some artiste friends of mine to come but it gets little difficult at the last moment," he added.

Jahnu has been responsible for bringing a new wave in Assamese cinema as he introduced the mainstream Bollywood actors to it. His debut film 'Aparoopa' was a bilingual cinema that starred veteran actors like Girish Karnad, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Farooq Sheikh and Suhasini Mulay besides vernacular actors.
The film was made into Hindi and was titled 'Apeksha'. The filmmaker, who is the first recipient of Bhupen Hazarika National award, also made a children's film 'Tora'.