Kothanodi (Bhaskar Hazarika) India |

Kothanodi
Bhaskar Hazarika
India. 2015. 115 min

Kothanodi is based on characters and events described in Burhi Aair Sadhu (Grandma’s Tales), a popular compendium of folk stories compiled by Assamese literary giant Lakshminath Bezbaroa. The four fables referenced in the film are Tejimola, Champawati, Ou Kuwori (The Outenga Maiden) and Tawoir Xadhu (The Story of Tawoi).

Once upon a time, Senehi (Zerifa Wahid), a schizophrenic woman who loathes her stepdaughter, plots her murder when her husband is called away on a distant trip on business. Her husband, Devinath (Adil Hussain), encounters a woman called Keteki (Urmila Mahanta) who has given birth to an outenga (elephant apple), which rolls around after her. Devinath resolves to unearth the mystery of the outenga.

Meanwhile, in another village, a rich woman named Dhoneshwari (Seema Biswas) is getting her daughter married to a python – a wedding that has dire consequences for the girl. As these three stories unfold, another mother, Malati (Asha Bordoloi), resolves to save her newest born from the clutches of her husband Poonai (Kopil Bora) and his uncle, who have sacrificed all three of her previous babies. In doing so, she unearths a shocking truth.

BHASKAR HAZARIKA

Bhaskar Hazarika is from Assam, India and has over 18 years of experience working in the film, television, and internet industries. He holds an MA in Film & Drama from the University of Reading and a BA (Hons) in History from Delhi University. He is also the founder of Metanormal, an independent film studio developing fresh content from the North East of India, as well as turnkey audiovisual assignments for clients in the government and development sectors. Bhaskar is presently writing series’ for Indian OTT platforms and working with a major Bollywood producer on the development of his first Hindi language feature film.

Bhaskar’s debut film Kothanodi (2015) received the Asian Cinema Fund’s Post Production Grant and had its World Premiere at Busan international Film Festival. Kothanodi has received the National Film Award for Best Asamese film in 2016. Aamis, his second feature, had its World Premiere at Tribeca Film Festival 2019 in the International Narrative Competition Section. It also won the Best Director and Best Actress awards at the 2019 Singapore South Asian International Film Festival.