''Matamgi Manipur'' (, English: ''The Times of Manipur'') is a 1972 Manipuri film and the first full-length

cinema of Manipur The Cinema of Manipur is the film industry based in Manipur, India. It includes not only Meitei language movies but all the films made in different languages of the different communities in Manipur. The Manipuri film industry was born when '' M ...

. The movie is directed by Debkumar Bose and produced by Karam Monomohan, under the banner of K.T. (Karam Tomal) Films Private Limited. The

black and white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white to produce a range of achromatic brightnesses of grey. It is also known as greyscale in technical settings. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, ...

film features Gurumayum Ravindra Sharma and

Yengkhom Roma Yengkhom Roma (born 23 September 1945) is an Indian actress who predominantly appeared in Manipuri films. She is a resident of Imphal, Manipur, where she was born in 1945 to Yengkhom Birendra and Yengkhom Ongbi Mani. Besides acting, she has also ...

in the lead roles. Arambam Samarendra wrote the story and screenplay by Debkumar Bose. The film won the ''President's Medal'' (Rashtriya Chalchitra Purashkar) at the

20th National Film Awards The 20th National Film Awards, presented by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India to felicitate the best of Indian Cinema released in the year 1972. With this year, new award category is introduced for the feature films made in Meit ...

. It is an adaptation of Arambam Samarendra's theatrical play ''Tīrtha Yātrā''. In remembrance of the occasion of release of this first feature film of Manipur, every year, April 9 is celebrated as ''Mami Numit'' (English: ''Cinema Day'') in the state. The film was processed at ''United Cine Laboratory'' under the supervision of Gauri Mukherjee. The credit titles (Meitei Mayek script) were written by Khun Joykumar. The film began shooting on 3 December 1971 and was wrapped up in January 1972.

Plot

The film tells the story of a middle-class family with members who adhere to both new and old societal values. Their diametrically opposed attitudes pull them in different directions. Tonsna, a retired Amin, has two sons, Ibohal and Ibotombi, and a daughter, Tondonbi. Ibohal is a fashionable, easy-going, spoilt young man. His wife Tampak wants to live the life of a virtuous, ideal housewife. Ibotombi is a progressive young man who challenges all old values and is angry that people do not understand the need to change their beliefs. Tondonbi, the sister, is a college student with ultra-modern ideas about life. She wants to enjoy life, making the best of every situation. Tonsa does not take the trouble to guide his children or help them adjust to a society that is slowly changing. The result is that Ibotombi is frustrated because the world does not change as fast as he would like, and Ibotombi makes a mess of his life. Tondonbi also ends up miserable and desperate. It seems that the family is destined to disintegrate, but then they begin to understand each other better and decide to live together happily ever after.

Cast

* Gurumayum Ravindra Sharma as Ibohal *

as Tampak, Ibohal's wife * Kangabam Birbabu as Ibotombi, Ibohal's younger brother *

Aribam Syam Sharma Aribam Syam Sharma is an Indian filmmaker and composer from Manipur. He debuted in the first Manipuri film '' Matamgi Manipur'' as an actor. In 1974, he directed his first movie '' Lamja Parshuram''. It became the first Manipuri film to run for ...

as Tonsna, Ibohal's father * Elangbam Indira as Tondonbi, Ibotombi's younger sister * Kshetrimayum Rashi as Sunita * Wahengbam Bedamani as Memcha, Ibotombi's girlfriend * Baby Ameeta as Ibohal's daughter * Lokendra Arambam as Secretary at Secretariat Office * Dr.

Moirangthem Nara Dr. Moirangthem Nara Singh (born Tentha, is an Indian politician from state Manipur. He was former Cabinet Minister for Arts and Culture and Sericulture in Manipur during 2002 to 2004. Early life Nara was born on 27 May 1949 in Tentha, Tenth ...

as Doctor * Amujao * Kangabam Tomba as Birjit * Okendra

Soundtrack

composed the soundtrack for the film and Khuraijam Phulendra and M. K. Binodini Devi wrote the lyrics. The playback singers are Chongtham Kamala, Arambam Jamuna and Aheibam Budhachandra. The gramophone records were done by

His Master's Voice His Master's Voice is an entertainment trademark featuring a dog named Nipper, curiously peering into the horn of a wind-up gramophone. Painted by Francis Barraud in 1898, the image has since become a global symbol used across consumer elect ...

Books

Bobby Wahengbam wrote a book on the film titled ''Matamgi Manipur: The First Manipuri Feature Film''. For the book, he won the Golden Lotus (Swarna Kamal) Award for Best Book on Cinema at the

65th National Film Awards The 65th National Film Awards ceremony was an event during which the Directorate of Film Festivals presented its annual National Film Awards to honour the best films of 2017 in Cinema of India, Indian cinema. The awards were announced on 13 Apr ...

held in 2018.

In popular culture

Haobam Paban Kumar made a documentary film named as ''The First Leap'' in 2008. It is about the get together of the cast and crew of ''Matamgi Manipur'' on a fine day in the 2000s, watching the movie, recollecting the sweet memories and having lunch.

References

External links

* * {{IMDb name, 0156774 Meitei-language films 1972 films Indian black-and-white films 1970s Indian films