Joymoti Never Left

In 1935, celebrated writer Jyotiprasad Agarwala directed the first Assamese film: Joymoti – a milestone in Indian cinema. Joymoti had a troubled legacy, the film vanished around the time of India's independence, to resurface only partly in the early 70s, with more reels reappearing over time.

The technical quality of the print(s), though, is deplorable – but these are the only elements we have. In a sense, this may be typical for the state of Assamese culture, which is the starting point of Joymoti Never Left. In a future Assam, rains have destroyed vast parts of the state and merely a few people still speak the language. An ethnographer discovers a diary he cannot read as it is written in Assamese and so a historian translates it for him. Its author was Satyashree Agarwala Das, the daughter of Agarwala, who also talks about the film's making. Another witness to the family we encounter is the great grandson of Agarwala, Raghu Pratap, who wants to become a filmmaker – and who plays not only himself but also the ethnographer as well as Agarwala in a re-enactment.

Past, present and future become one in this essay on cultural heritage and its various political and spiritual dimensions.

– Olaf Möller