After working as an assistant director in Bollywood films like PK, Lakshmipriya Devi branches out. For Boong, she serves as a director and writer, choosing, for her protagonist, the titular rambunctious Manipuri boy (Gugun Kipgen). He runs home to his mother Mandakini (Bala Hijam) to use her cell phone.
Boong invites his dad Joykumar (Hamom Sadananda) to the Holi festival but of course he doesn’t show up, so it’s up to Mandakini, then, to keep up social graces. But the two can only do so much, as Joykumar’s absence contributes to Boong’s antisocial behaviour.
Boong, then, decides to go to Moreh, a town bordering Burma/Myanmar where Joykumar was and may still be living. In that journey, Boong’s best friend Raju (Angom Sanamatum) comes along and along their journey, they feel the ethnic conflicts that are present in their home outside Imphal as well as in Moreh.
It’s normal to have feelings when watching a film, but it feels like this knows how to modulate said feelings. There’s a scene in Boong where an adult says something xenophobia in front of a child who also belongs to an ethnic minority, a moment making viewers ask the usual questions. Thankfully though, the film isn’t a total downer.
I already liked Boong during the Madonna sing along. And despite of what happens in between, like turned to love when Boong and Raju recruit a drag queen, JJ Singer (Jenny Khurai) to help them find Joykumar. Drag will save the world, after all.
- Rated: NR
- Genre: Drama
- Release Date: 9/7/2024
- Directed by: Lakshmipriya Devi
- Starring: Angom Sanamatum, Bala Hijam, Gugun Kipgen
- Produced by: Farhan Akhtar, Ritesh Sidhwani
- Written by: Lakshmipriya Devi
- Studio: Chalkboard Entertainment, Suitable Pictures
