Initially screened at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, the restoration of Ishanou (1990) was completed by the Film Heritage Foundation who previously worked on Aravindan Govindan’s Thamp (1978) for the festival in 2022. Due to the inter-negative portions of the original camerawork and nonexistent negative sound, advanced techniques were needed to retrieve the film.
“It has been a challenging journey, but the result has been more than worth it. The beautiful restoration will remind cineastes of the work of a doyen of Manipuri cinema and a renaissance man like Aribam Syam Sharma [the film’s director] who has placed Manipuri cinema on the world map.”, said Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, director of the Film Heritage Foundation.
Ishanou (1990) follows the story of Tampha, a beautiful young woman who lives a tranquil life with her husband and small daughter. One day she exhibits strange mannerisms, signalling for her to leave her mundane life and answer the call of her local deity.
While the premise of leaving behind one’s home is commonly used in horror and thriller movies, Ishanou demonstrates it as a story of love, loss, and life. Films such as Midsommar (2019) and The Green Inferno (2013) frequently utilise Indigenous beliefs to create horrifying worldbuilding by adopting the perspective of an outsider. Ishanou, on the other hand, tells the story of someone who lives within the group, an insider, allowing a shift of narrative toward the heart of the spirituality. Instead of facing fear due to the unknown, Tampha faces the conundrum of having to choose between divinity and humanity.
Written and scripted by the renowned Manipuri writer M.K. Binodini Devi, the film was inspired by the Meitei community institution of Maibis (shamanic priestesses). These shamans were said to be bestowed with divine power by the patron God, gifting them the ability to sing and dance and thus, preserve the oral religious tradition of the community. Ishanou did not specifically mention what ‘God’ Tamhpa answered to. Because those chosen as Maibis are destined to worship all Gods of Manipuri culture. There is a possibility that the Gods are highly associated with the environment and nature/earth as scenic scenes and wide shots with green foliage, nudges viewers to associate the environment as an active participant.
To deliver a connection to the divine meant the beauty of Ishanou lay in the riveting cinematography. The movie was shot with a limited budget, but limitations were the key to unlocking its artistic potential. With only a minimal amount of background music and a seemingly old grainy display, the movie shows that intimacy resides in the simplicity of the visuals. Small gestures become pronouncedly noticeable, allowing the filmmakers to lay meanings elegantly. For instance, several scenes of Tamhpa’s “answering the call” were precluded by her bright pink sari falling beforehand, representing her future decision to leave behind her “humanity” and serve divinity. The pink sari also acts as a precursor to another symbolic transition; when changing her clothes from pink, a colour worn when she was a housewife, to white, upon joining the shamans. The cinematic language of colour powerfully immersed the viewer in a world that would be unrelatable if not for the director’s meticulous sequence.
To indulge in a story that does not abuse — hyperbolise or appropriate — mysticism was exciting, sparking hope within me that perhaps it is still possible for the beauty of cultural practices to be conveyed to audiences unfamiliar with different ways of living and believing. It is known that within Western films, mysticism is often incorporated as something eerie and otherworldly — contributing to the narrative of ‘the other’. Time and time again, these portrayals only serve to downplay the meaning behind non-Western, typically Eastern, cultural practices into exotic eye candy. Yet the film does this with care and reiterates that religious beliefs at the heart of several populations must be afforded respect, especially when depicting them in a highly accessible medium, like film.
While I’m sure that some may find Ishanou to be an unorthodox approach to framing ‘cultic’ belief. I find this demonstration of theosophy from a movie to be tender and powerful, and I hope others will too.
Ishanou (1990) is playing at the Cinema Reborn Festival which is screening restorations of classic films. Click here to access the 2024 program, running from May 1-7.
