Mumbai :The international recognition for the Manipuri-language film Boong at the BAFTA Awards has helped draw global attention to Manipur, its director Lakshmipriya Devi said on Monday, describing the achievement as an important moment of visibility for the northeastern state.

Speaking in an interview with Press Trust of India, the filmmaker said the award has created an initial level of awareness about Manipur and its stories among global audiences.

“With film festivals like BAFTA, at least the first step of awareness has been created. It tells people that there is a place called Manipur and that films like this exist outside mainstream Bollywood. Beyond that, it is up to audiences to take that knowledge forward,” she said.

The coming-of-age drama made history as the first Indian film to win a trophy at the prestigious awards ceremony organised annually in London by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. The film won in the Best Children’s and Family Film category last month.

Set against the backdrop of tensions in Manipur, Boong follows the journey of a determined schoolboy searching for his missing father in a conflict-affected landscape.

The story, according to Devi, is deeply personal and was inspired by family memories. One of the key inspirations came from her grandfather’s longing for his own father, who had lived in exile in Myanmar.

“I used to write about my grandfather’s stories in a journal just to get it out of my system. Eventually, because I had worked in films as an assistant director, the story became a script,” she said.

Initially uncertain about turning the idea into a book due to a lack of confidence in her English writing, Devi eventually realised that the story could be told better through cinema.”It was such a deeply personal story that I felt I couldn’t hand it over to someone else to direct,” she said.

Despite the historic recognition, the director said she is still processing the achievement and prefers to remain out of the spotlight. Recalling the moment she received the BAFTA trophy, Devi said she was overwhelmed.

“I was in a daze. The only thing I could think of was how heavy the trophy was and how much the excess baggage would cost,” she joked. She added that, being a low-budget filmmaker, the win has not yet changed her day-to-day life.

“I’m still the same. In fact, I want to go back more under the radar after this and not let this get to me,” she said. Devi, who grew up in Imphal, said working on the film became emotionally challenging during post-production due to the political unrest and social tensions in the state.

The filmmaker revealed that editing the film was particularly difficult after violence broke out in parts of Manipur. “I couldn’t edit the film for a very long time. I would break down whenever I saw the footage because many of the places where we shot the second half were later reduced to rubble,” she said.

It took several months before she could return to the footage and complete the editing process.Produced by Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani under the banner of Excel Entertainment, the film features Gugun Kipgen and Bala Hijam in key roles.

Devi, who is also the niece of noted Manipuri writer M. K. Binodini Devi, has spent over two decades working in the Hindi film industry. Before making her directorial debut, she worked as an assistant director on several notable films, including Luck by Chance, Lakshya, Talaash, and PK, directed by Rajkumar Hirani.

While the film is set against the backdrop of tensions in Manipur, Devi said she did not set out to make a political statement. “This is not a political film. It is simply the story of a boy who lives in a place where such realities exist. If someone interprets it as political, that is their perspective,” she said.

She also highlighted how the production brought together people from different ethnic communities in Manipur and maintained a sense of solidarity even after conflict began in the region. Despite the international recognition, the filmmaker said she has no immediate plans to capitalise on the success.

Currently based in Mumbai, she hopes to celebrate the achievement with the film’s cast and crew before travelling to Manipur to watch the film with local audiences. Her immediate priorities, she said, are far more modest – getting some rest, reading books by authors she admires such as George Orwell and Arundhati Roy, and gradually returning to work.

Boong was initially released in theatres in September last year with a limited run. Following its BAFTA win, the film was re-released on March 6, drawing renewed interest from audiences.