On A Night Of BAFTA Surprises, Was ‘Boong’ The Biggest?

[ad_1] Whereas Robert Aramayo’s BAFTA Greatest Actor win for I, Swear shocked many, there was dialogue earlier than the awards that it may come to move.

Marty Supreme pitching a record-equalling shutout was one other shock, however there was a transparent path for it occurring.

It’s maybe exhausting to consider a much bigger shock bundle on the night time, nevertheless, than little identified Manipuri-language movie Boong beating out Hollywood blockbusters Lilo & Sew and Zootropolis 2 and competition darling Arco within the Kids’s And Household class. Zootropolis 2 and Arco are each Oscar nominated.

When the movie gained, many within the media room at BAFTA turned to one another with a quizzical look. They didn’t need to admit it, however few had even heard of the movie, not to mention knew something about it. All energy to the underdog!

Boong first debuted in 2024 on the Toronto Movie Pageant however was solely launched in India a yr later. Directed by Lakshmipriya Devi in his function debut as a filmmaker and produced by Excel Leisure (Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani), the movie tells the story of a younger boy navigating ethnic tensions within the Northern area of Manipur to carry his father residence.

There aren't any family names within the forged, which contains Gugun Kipgen, Bala Hijam, Angom Sanamatum, Vikram Kochhar, Nemetia Ngangbam, Jenny Khurai and Hamom Sadananda. The most important identify related to the movie is actually its producer, the Hindi movie star Farhan Akhtar, who will painting Ravi Shankar in Sam Mendes’ upcoming Beatles movies.

The movie’s UK distributor is listed as Bakrania Media, an unheralded specialist within the native distribution of Indian movies. The corporate has solely 420 followers on X and Boong isn’t even listed on the agency’s IMDB web page, which lists solely eight releases since 2019. Bakrania beat out the Disney juggernaut and native Cineworld-owned distributor Picturehouse, which runs a fleet of UK arthouse cinemas besides.

Boong had solely beforehand garnered one nomination on the worldwide awards circuit, in line with IMDB, and that got here on the 2024 Asia Pacific Display Awards (which it gained). In contrast, Zootropolis 2 has amassed 72 nominations and Arco 49.