California/Guwahati 27 April, 2011: It seems the Bihu blues haven't yet subsidized for the Assamese people. The latest offering from "Naak Kaata" (NK) Productions, "Jaanmoni 2011" has recently hit the US theatres, and is giving the multi diversified thriller movie "Scream 4" a tough competition. The movie is the first Assamese movie to hit the US theatres and is made of a fine blend of artistic and musical appeal. A somewhat enthralled moviegoer after watching the movie who spoke to our California correspondent, Zilailai Zilanlo had this to say, "The movie is superbly made, it made me wonder whether I was watching a Bihu movie or I was in a redemption of Psycho. The background score was awesome, it reminded me of the erstwhile hit Hindi movie, Pyaasa. Kudos to everyone for coming up with this stuff. I am eagerly waiting for Jaanmoni 2012."
It may be mentioned that the out of the world music of Jaanmoni is given by as many as three persons Diganta Bharali, Biman Barua and Mousum Gogoi. They have done a fine job of packaging Bihu into modern music where they have succesfully managed to hide "husori" in the guise of rock and pop, something that was never done or thought by anyone. When we spoke to Mousum he said "I am true Assamese, and I want husori to be known all over the world. So I have excluded that in the movie, so that people will be kept in suspense as to what kind of music it is. In this way the TRP will increase." Clearly, motivated by Atanu Bhuyan's Twitter updates we wished Mousum all the best for his next project.
The threat to "Scream 4" from "Jaanmoni" comes not ftom the story or the songs, but uniquely from the background music. Scored by the dynamic young musician, Anurag Saikia, the background score reminds us very much of a 1980s horror movie. At times he had even experimented with extra vocals and has done a fine job out of the disastrous story line of the movie. Unline "Scream 4", he uses a definite blend of animalistic sounds and trumpets which never gives us a feeling of watching an Assamese movie. The director of "Scream 4", Mr. Chris Klintoff has commended Mr. Saikia on producing such world class music, and wished him all the best. He has even promised to sign Mr. Saikia for his next psychotic love story titled "Who killed my cat's boyfriend?". When we contacted Anurag this afternoon, he refused to comment on this saying that it was against his policy to speak to anyone without brushing his teeth.
This surprising yet heartening news is that, "Jaanmoni" has outdid even "Golmaal 3" and "3 Idiots" in terms of sales, and is only lagging behind "Ramdhenu" to become the highest grossing Assamese movie of all time. While we tried very hard to find a story in the movie but inspite of seeking the help of Larry Page and Sergein Brin (the founders of Google), we could not find it. Unfortunately, even Rajnikant was lost during the last scene trying to figure out what the characters were trying to do with their hands. Akhil Gogoi hearing this has declared that he will be fasting unto death in an "Anna Hazare" style untill and unless Himanta Biswa Sharma announces what the story is all about.
