Ishanou back at Cannes after three decades; all you need to know about Manipuri classic

Aribam Syam Sharma’s Ishanou (The Chosen One) will be premiering at the Cannes Film Festival on May 19, this year. The Manipuri film’s screening will be held as part of the Cannes Classics section. This makes it the only Indian film this year to premiere under the Classics section, which screens the restored versions of classics.

Ishanou's plot line 

Ishanou focuses on a young woman Tampha, who is married to a devoted man and has a young daughter. She lives in the peaceful valley of Manipur, usually preoccupied with mundane matters of daily life. However, she starts acting strange all of a sudden, when she starts talking to flowers, having dizzy spells and leaves the house in the middle of the night. The family tries to seek a cure for her illness, until they realise that she is not ill at all. Rather, she is answering the call of a divine spirit who has chosen her. 

Cast and crew members 

The 1990 film Ishanou is written by MK Binodini Devi and stars Kangabam Tomba and Anoubam Kiranmala in the key roles. Baby Molly, Manbi, Soraisam Dhiren, and Baby Premita are the other supporting cast members. The movie was first broadcasted on Doordarshan and subsequently released on July 6 in Imphal's Usha Cinema. Later, it was shown at the 1991 Cannes Film Festival as a part of the Un Certain Regard category.

Restoration of the film 

In cooperation with the director Sharma and the Manipur State Film Development Society, Ishanou was restored by Film Heritage Foundation. The restoration work was done in the Prasad Corporation Pvt. Ltd.'s post-studios in Chennai as well as the L'Immagine Ritrovata lab in Bologna. Sharma monitored the colour grading procedure in order to digitise the audio from the 35mm acetate print. The research was supported by the Film Heritage Foundation with help from Susan Harmon and Dr. Richard Meyer.