Assam NRC's real-life pangs make reel debut in Bollywood

Moved by the pangs of his friend and assistant Aditya Bhattacharjee after his name was left out of the final NRC list in Assam in 2019, Mumbai-based film director Saif Baidya decided to share the pains with the country through a film. The story was so moving that Bollywood producer, Vinay G Rai agreed to make it a feature film, which is now ready for release on DTH platforms.

The film was shot in different locations in Tripura, a state which also shares its border with Bangladesh and the debate of "illegal migration" from across the border is as intense as in Assam.

The duration of the feature film is 1 hour 50 minutes and the language is Hindi. Named Noise of Silence, it portrays how a couple, Sujoy Ghosh and Kanika Ghosh, struggles and makes rounds of courts (foreigner tribunals) to prove their Indian citizenships as their names were left out of the NRC.

"We tried to portray how the society makes a mockery and calls them Bangladeshi after they could not make it to the final NRC list. We decided to make the film with Tripura as the background as our co-producers and some of the actors are from the state and demography is almost similar to Assam," director of the film, Saif Baidya told DH over the phone on Wednesday.

"We have tried to depict the citizenship crisis in two plots. One portrays how a Rohingya Muslim girl from Myanmar, who crossed over to India (Tripura) in search of her lost parents faces harassment at a time when NRC update was going on. In the second plot, we have tried to highlight the plight of the couple, who were left out of the NRC despite the fact that his father's name figured in the final list," Saif said.

More than 19.06 lakh people, out of the total 3.29 crore applicants have been left out of the final list of NRC, which is being updated in Assam with March 24, 1971, as the cut-off date.

It means those failing to prove that they or their forefathers lived in Assam on or before the cut-off date would be referred to foreigner tribunals and courts thereafter to prove their Indian citizenship. Those losing the case in the courts would be declared foreigners and lodged in detention camps for deportation to Bangladesh. This fear has caused so much anxiety that many even committed suicide.

The lead roles have been played by Firdaus Hassan, Puja Jha (both from Mumbai), Rishie Raj from Tripura. Firdaus has acted in Hindi movies like Sanju, Veer Zara, Lakshya and Mukkebaz.

Satadeep Saha, co-producer of Noise of Silence said the film not only portrayed the pangs of NRC for viewers in the rest of the country but also provided actors from Tripura a boost.

"I hope the Noise of Silence will make some real noise for viewers in rest of the country," an associate producer of the film, hailing from Tripura, Joysankar Bhattacharjee said.