Acclaimed Old Jollywood Films

Assamese Film is the regional film industry of Assam. This industry is also know as Jollywood named for Agarwala's Jyoti Chitraban Film Studio. The old acclaimed assamese films gave a new dimension to films in the field of art and culture. They gave a new direction and led to innovation in the films.

 

In 1935, the renowned filmmaker Rupkonwar Jyotiprasad Agarwala has directed his masterpiece Joymoti which set out to be a benchmark in the film arena. It was the first assamese film which created history. It was the first Indian talkie to have used dubbing and Re-recording Technology and also the first to engage with realism and politics in Indian cinema.

Joymoti was adapted from Lakshminath Bezbaroa's play about the 17th Century Ahom princess Soti Joymoti.Aideu Handique and Phunu Barooah were the actors in the film. It was noted for it's political views and use of a female protagonist in those times in indian cinema it was not known to anyone.

Piyoli Phukan is a black and white film directed by Phani Sarma, released in 1955. The film is based on the life and struggle of one of the earliest assamese leaders to raise voice against british rule, Piyoli Phukan. He was sentenced to death and hanged in 1830 at Jorhat. This film recieved the national award for the first best feature film in assamese. Certificate of merit has also been received by this film. 

Puberun was directed by Prabhat Mukherjee in 1959. The cast of the film include Gyanada Kakoti, Radha Gobinda Barua, Tassaduck Yusuf, Margaret Anderson. It won Presidents Silver Medal for Best Feature Film at 7th National Film Awards. It was the first assamese film to be shown in the International Film Festival. It was screened in the Berlin Film Festival which opened doors to an international platform for assamese cinema.

Gonga Chilonir Pakhi was adapted from a novel authored by Lakshmi Nandan Bora. It was an assamese drama movie directed by Padma Baruah in 1976. This film paved the way for the realistic art films in the field of assamese cinema. For the first time assamese cinema took a turn into the genre of art, setting a milestone.

Sandhya Raag was based on the story of Banaprastha written in 1969. It was directed by Bhabendra Nath Saikia in 1977, one of the prominent filmmakers of the assamese cinema. It was the first assamese film to be awarded the Indian Panorama at International Film Festival. It also won the National Award for Best Regional Film in 1978. This film left strong footsteps in the world of cinema.

Agnisnaan is an assamese drama film, directed by Bhabendra Saikia in 1985. It was based on Saikia's novel titled Antareep. It won National Award for best screenplay. It was also awarded the Rajat Kamal for the best regional film.

With the innovation and improvisation of films like  Village Rockstars, Bulbul Can Sing, Fireflies and Ronuwa - Who Never Surrender gave a new direction to Jollywood in the world cinema.