5 SRFTI alumni win National Film Awards across direction, cinematography, sound design

Kolkata: Five alumni of Satyajit Ray Film & Television Institute deemed-to-be University (SRFTI DTBU) bagged the National Award this year. The winners include directors Dominic Megam Sangma and Christo Tomy, cinematographers Saravanamuthu Soundarapandi and Meenakshi Soman, and sound designer Shubharun Sengupta.Saravanamuthu Soundarapandi, who died in 2022 at the age of 32, was honoured posthumously. Soman, who received the award for her work in ‘Little Wings' alongside Soundarapandi, said news of the accolade is "bittersweet" for her. "He (Soundarapandi) filmed the first schedule of the film for which I was his associate cinematographer. I shot the second schedule," Soman told TOI. The film "Little Wings" is about how an old woman trapped in a bitter marriage is pushed to the brink when her husband, suffering paralysis, sets out to consume her pet rooster.

In the feature film section, Dominic Megam Sangma's "Rimdogittanga" received the Raj Kamal for Best Garo Film, while Christo Tomy's "Ullozhukku (Undercurrent)" received the Rajat Kamal for Best Malayalam film. Each Rajat Kamal recipient will receive Rs 2 lakh as prize money. Sangma's Garo feature had no competition since it was the only entry in the language. The challenge for him, however, was to make a film with a cast which had little exposure to good cinema or working in movies.

"All my actors in the film were new. Apart from heads of departments, most of the crew was also new. It took the entire village to make this film," said Sangma, adding that he dedicated the award to the people of Garo hills.

Sources say "Ullozhukku" on the other hand faced stiff competition against five Malayalam features in the final round. "Malayalam cinema has always been known for great films. I am very happy with the award.

Even the award for best actress in a supporting role has gone to Urvashi for her performance in my film. Attending multiple screenings at the film school shaped my filmmaking style organically. I am so happy that five of us who studied at SRFTI have won the National Award this year," said director Christo Tomy.What made his film stand out was his ability to give extraordinary treatment to ordinary experiences of life involving saas-bahu friction and a track involving the daughter-in-law's extramarital affair. Added to it was the treatment of aligning a natural calamity with the internal crisis of the two characters. "I always wanted my film to be performance driven with the treatment evolving organically from the story.

I wanted it to be an emotional thriller which was not limited to the niche audience," Tomy added.