Guwahati: It’s been 87 years of the Assamese film industry since the first movie ‘Joymoti’ was released and it has come a long way from being considered as a social and cultural taboo to an opportunities-filled avenue.
Assam’s first actress Aideu Nilambar Handique had to be lured into acting as director Jyotiprasad Agarwala had difficulty in finding a leading lady for the conservative society for the first Assamese film in the early 1930s.
After acting in the film ‘Joymoti’, Aideu was socially ostracised by the villagers for three years, compelled to live in the confines of her father’s house and remained unmarried.
Written by eminent litterateur Lakhsminath Bezbarua, ‘Joymoti’ is the story of an Ahom princess (Joymoti) who sacrificed her life for the sake of her husband Gadhadhar Singha, also known as Gadapani. Gadapani is the fugitive prince, who takes refuge in the Naga Hills.
The ruling prince, Lora Roja, is on a massive manhunt to kill Gadapani, and when his aids fail to find his whereabouts, they torture Joymoti so that she will tell them about her husband. But Joymoti preferred death to betrayal. “Joymoti” is a tale of supreme faith and sacrifice? a fight against oppression and dominance.
Unfortunately, Aideu Handique, the first film actress of Assamese cinema who got into the film industry during the era when acting was considered a cultural taboo.
Handique was born on June 7, 1920, in Pani Dihingiya, Golaghat, Assam to Nilambar Handique and Malakhi Handique.
She never acted after ‘Joymoti’, except for a minuscule role in the film ‘Ganga Siloni’ and a guest appearance in a film made on her life.
In 1985, when Assam celebrated the golden jubilee of the state’s cinema, her role was acknowledged. The East Indian Motion Picture Association had gifted Aideu a wheelchair. The Assam Government, much later, gave her Rs 1,500 a month as pension.
It also recommended her name for Padmashri, but was denied the award because she had done only one film. In 1991, a girls’ school was named after her in her village.
She died in December 17, 2002 at Kamargaon in Golaghat.
Remembering the legend on her death anniversary, Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Saturday paid tribute to the first Assamese film actress Aideu Handique.
Sharing a video of the actress, the Union Minister tweeted, “She was an example of women’s strength through her lifelong sacrifice and courage. She has made a new history by paving the way for women to act in Assamese films. The first heroine of Assamese cinema, the great Aideu Handique, is remembered on her death anniversary today.”