While Robert Aramayo’s BAFTA Best Actor win for I, Swear surprised many, there was discussion before the awards that it could come to pass.
Marty Supreme pitching a record-equalling shutout was another surprise, but there was a clear path for it happening.
It’s perhaps hard to think of a bigger surprise package on the night, however, than little known Manipuri-language film Boong beating out Hollywood blockbusters Lilo & Stitch and Zootropolis 2 and festival darling Arco in the Children’s And Family category. Zootropolis 2 and Arco are both Oscar nominated.
When the film won, many in the media room at BAFTA turned to each other with a quizzical look. They didn’t want to admit it, but few had even heard of the film, let alone knew anything about it. All power to the underdog!
Boong first debuted in 2024 at the Toronto Film Festival but was only released in India a year later. Directed by Lakshmipriya Devi in his feature debut as a filmmaker and produced by Excel Entertainment (Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani), the film tells the story of a young boy navigating ethnic tensions in the Northern region of Manipur to bring his father home.
There are no household names in the cast, which comprises Gugun Kipgen, Bala Hijam, Angom Sanamatum, Vikram Kochhar, Nemetia Ngangbam, Jenny Khurai and Hamom Sadananda. The biggest name associated with the film is certainly its producer, the Hindi film star Farhan Akhtar, who will portray Ravi Shankar in Sam Mendes’ upcoming Beatles films.
The film’s UK distributor is listed as Bakrania Media, an unheralded specialist in the local distribution of Indian films. The company has only 420 followers on X and Boong isn’t even listed on the firm’s IMDB page, which lists only eight releases since 2019. Bakrania beat out the Disney juggernaut and local Cineworld-owned distributor Picturehouse, which runs a fleet of UK arthouse cinemas to boot.
Boong had only previously garnered one nomination on the global awards circuit, according to IMDB, and that came at the 2024 Asia Pacific Screen Awards (which it won). By contrast, Zootropolis 2 has amassed 72 nominations and Arco 49.
This is a true David and Goliath story and we’re all for it!
