CiNEmatters by Firstpost: Episode 4 — 'Phijigee Mani'

CiNEmatters

Host: Arshia Dhar

Theme Music and Editing: Sourjyo Sinha

Artwork: Adrija Ghosh

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Episode 4: Phijigee Mani (2011)

Language/Region: Manipuri/Manipur

Streaming on: YouTube

Director: Oinam Gautam Singh

Cast: Gurumayum Bonny, Leishangthem Tonthoingambi Devi, Abenao Elangbam, Y Kumarjit, Shyamdhani, Shanti, Sorojini

In the fourth episode of CiNEmatters, we discuss the 2011 Manipuri film Phijigee Mani — a story of family, abandonment, aspirations and their manifestations in a patriarchal society.

It is the story of a budding boxer Sanajaoba (Gurumayum Bonny), who becomes estranged from his family after losing a national match, consequently forsaking his sporting dreams and moving to a city with a white-collar job. He ties the knot, has a daughter, and all the while keeps his distance from his family where his mother pines away for him.

Phijigee Mani follows the point of view of Sanajaoba's sister Yaiphabi (Leishangthem Tonthoingambi Devi), a scientist. She sets out on a mission to reconcile her broken family, in order to end the suffering of her parents caused by the absence of their son. The film switches tracks between the past and the present, as it tails Yaiphabi on a bus ride to her brother's new home. On her way, she stumbles upon characters from Sanajaoba's past life — including his girlfriend — and reflects upon how circumstances have shaped the lives of men and women in her life, including her own, differently.

The film examines the unbridled privileges bestowed upon the male child in a Meitei family, where the parents, in spite of depending solely on the care of their daughter, seem to only value the presence and views of their absentee son.

Sound anthropologist and teacher of Sociology Sebanti Chatterjee joins us in this episode to unpack why Phijigee Mani is crucial to the landscape of cinema and culture of the North East of India, especially Manipur.

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