''Bulbul Can Sing'' is a 2018 Indian

Assamese language Assamese () or Asamiya ( ) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken mainly in the north-eastern Indian state of Assam, where it is an official language. It has long served as a ''lingua franca'' in parts of Northeast India."Axomiya is the major langu ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by Rima Das. It was screened in the Contemporary World Cinema section at the

2018 Toronto International Film Festival The 43rd annual Toronto International Film Festival was held from September 6 to 16, 2018. In June 2018, the TIFF organizers announced a program to ensure that at least 20 percent of all film critics and journalists given press accreditation to ...

. The film centres on three teenagers trying to come to terms with their sexual identities.Peter Knegt
"It's another queer year for TIFF — here are your 13 essential films"

CBC Arts CBC Arts () is the division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that creates and curates written articles, short documentaries, non-fiction series and interactive projects that represent the excellence of Canada's diverse artistic communitie ...

, 29 August 2018. The film won the

National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Assamese The National Film Award for Best Assamese Feature Film is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the National Film Development Corporation of India. It is one of several awards presented for feature films and awarded with Rajat K ...

at India's 66th National Film Awards.

Plot

Bulbul is a young girl who lives in Kalardiya village near

Chaygaon Chaygaon is a town in the Kamrup district of Assam, India; situated on the south bank of the Brahmaputra River. It is 38 km from the major town of Guwahati. The town is known for "Maa Chandika Devalaya", a Shakta pitha, where thousands of dev ...

in India's Assam state. She has two best friends, Bonny and Sumu, and they are coming of age and finding their own identities but who they want to be and what their community expects them to be are two different things as they find themselves at odds with the social mores and moral codes of their village. Clashes emerge as Bulbul finds herself experiencing the first glimmers of attraction for a guy, Sumu is bullied for not acting like a traditional man and Bonny finds the pressures of the community unbearable. As fear and doubt assail the three friends, Bulbul must find her own voice and sing.

Cast

* Arnali Das as Bulbul * Banita Thakuriya as Bonnie * Manoranjan Das as Suman * Manabendra Das * Pakija Begam

Reception

Critical response

''Bulbul Can Sing'' mostly received positive reviews from critics. Deborah Young of ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' called the film "quietly insightful" which "has a pleasing simplicity and realism", while Wendy Ide of '' Screen'' described it as "a heartfelt, acutely honest portrait of rural Indian adolescence." Among Indian critics, Anirudh Bhattacharyya of ''

Outlook Outlook or The Outlook may refer to: Computing * Microsoft Outlook, also referred to as ''the classic Outlook'' an e-mail client and personal information management software product from Microsoft * Outlook for Windows, also referred to as ''the ...

'' felt that with this film director Das had surpassed the expectations raised by her previous directorial '' Village Rockstars''. According to Sonal Pandya of ''Cinestaan'', Das has matured as a filmmaker with this film and the film's beginning and end were bookended nicely. Aswathy Gopalakrishnan also praised the film for its subtle take on feminism and patriarchy.

Accolades

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bulbul Can Sing 2018 films 2018 drama films 2018 LGBTQ-related films 2010s Assamese-language films Indian drama films Indian LGBTQ-related films 2010s LGBTQ-related drama films Best Assamese Feature Film National Film Award winners Films about women in India