Mumbai, March 9 (IANS) — Filmmaker Lakshmipriya Devi said she is “over the moon” after her Manipuri film Boong won the 2026 BAFTA Award for Best Children’s and Family Film, becoming the first Indian film to claim that honour. Speaking to IANS, Devi described how the production found and cast Gugun Kipgen, the child actor who plays the film’s titular boy.
Boong is a coming-of-age drama about a young boy who lives in Manipur with his mother after his father disappears. Convinced that finding his missing father will restore his family’s happiness, the boy and a friend travel toward the border town of Moreh and even cross into Myanmar in their search. The story unfolds against a backdrop of social tensions in the region.
The film premiered at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival and played at other festivals, including Warsaw and MAMI Mumbai, before its BAFTA win in 2026. The award marks a significant milestone for regional Indian cinema and brings wider attention to stories from the Northeast.
Devi told IANS that casting relied heavily on word of mouth because Manipur lacks a structured casting system. “The whole casting was word of mouth. We don’t have a structured casting system in Manipur,” she said, explaining that relatives, friends and anyone they met were asked if they knew a child who fit the part. “Any kid we saw, even in the bazaar, we would be asking them to come and audition.”
She recounted meeting Gugun at an audition: he was fearless but told her, “Oh, I can’t do this audition because I don’t know the language.” Devi said his cheeky confidence and a private moment-when he showed her how he used a slingshot-sealed her decision. “We just hung around, he and I could talk like friends. So I knew that I could communicate with this boy,” she said, adding that communication was crucial: someone might be technically perfect for the role, “but if I can’t communicate, then what’s the point of this?”
Directed by Lakshmipriya Devi and produced by Excel Entertainment alongside independent partners, Boong is currently in theatres.
Original Source: https://www.morungexpress.com/lakshmipriya-devi-shares-how-she-arrived-at-casting-of-young-boy-in-her-bafta-winning-film-boong
Category: Entertainment
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Publish Date: 2026-03-09 13:49:00
