Village Rockstars movie review: Rima Das' film is a work of art

Director: Rima Das Cast: Bhanita Das, Basanti Das, Kulada Bhattacharya There’s a word in Japanese — mingei — describing an art movement, especially in pottery, that began in the 1920s. Rima Das’ Village Rockstars, which she has not just written, directed and produced, but also shot and edited, is one such rare piece of cinema. The movie, which Das declares at the onset is a “tribute to the place, the people, where I come from”, tells the story of Dhunu, her brother and mother and those around them in their village in Assam which sits warily by a river that feeds them but also rises, ever so often, to claim its price. Watching Village Rockstars is like spending a day, from dusk to dawn, by a river that takes its own time to tells its story and that of the people around it.