Why Didn't a National Award Winning Movie Get a Platform to Release? Mithila Makhaan: A Revolutionary Movie in Regional Language

 

Picture Credit: Yotube

Leaving a good and luxurious life in Canada to stay in a rural area in Bihar where there are no options for education and employment sounds stupid but this is what Kranti Prakash does in the National Award Winning Movie “Mithila Makhaan”.

Why?

To bring a Kranti (revolution) in Bihar. The movie showcases many issues which need to be revolutionized about Bihar and particularly Mithila region.

  
About the Movie

Mithila Makhaan is the second movie produced by Nitin Chandra and Neetu Chandra under the banner of Champaran Talkies.

Film was expected to release initially in 2019, but got delayed, no any OTT platform agreed to release a National award winning film because it was in a regional language but it was finally released on OTT platform named Bejod in 2020. The platform was created by the filmmakers themselves. Now the movie is also available on youtube.

As the film is in Maithili language, all the actors of the movie are from Bihar only. Film also stars some popular actors like KrantiPrakash Jha and Pankaj Jha.

Being a movie in local dialect, filmmakers has done a good job by shooting the movie not only in Bihar but in Toronto and New York as well. Film has shown beautiful locations of Bihar and its Mithila region like Kosi Bridge of Nepal, Darbhanga and Rajnagar.

 
Why is the Film Close to Heart of Maithil People?

Film has shown beautiful and real views of some villages in the Mithila region. Views of old, traditional rural houses, ponds (pokhar), fields and gardens (khet and kalam), non-concreted roads are like nostalgia for the people who are staying away from their hometowns.

 Film has shown the culture of Mithila very beautifully. Mentions of Mithila paintings, Bhagwati pooja, Paag and Makhaan feels very real.

 
Social Issues Shown in Movie

Mithila is full of culture and beauty but what it lacks is awareness of people about some social issues and the movie is basically about those issues only. Some of the issues mentioned in the film are

 
1. The Dowry System

Apart from the rich heritage Mithila owns, it also has some bad things about it. Although giving and taking dowry is a criminal offence, people in Bihar are still following this social evil.

Movie has chosen right words to describe the evil as it says “There are rates fixed by the society at which the parents sell their sons.”

 
2. Disinterest in Regional Language

Now, when most of the families have migrated from the rural Mithila to cities like Delhi and Mumbai, people are not only forgetting their culture but also their mother tongue. People think speaking in Maithili or Bhojpuri would make them look low in front of others.

In fact, now even parents also speak in Hindi and English with their kids. People need to learn that however far we go from our hometowns, our roots should always be connected to our motherland only.

Honestly, Maithili is a language of love and respect, still people think speaking in any local dialect of Bihar is a disregard.

 
3. Lack of Education and Employment

We all are aware of how the people from rural areas are migrating to cities in search of opportunities for education and employment. Many people from Bihar are working as labours in Delhi but why are not they doing the same work in Bihar, because Bihar lacks the employment for them as a labour as well.

And film also mentions that no political party can do anything for Bihar as people themselves don’t want any development. “ Development of Mithila can be done by some Maithil only”, this is what one of the character in the movie says.

 
4. Floods in Mithilanchal Every Year

Film mentions how every year the floods flow away the villages, villagers and everything they earn in the entire year. In 2008, a major flood came in Mithila region of Bihar, it snatched everything from the villagers including their employment. But still Government has not done anything for the employment of the people and hence they were forced to leave the villages in search of employment.
 

5. Crime in Bihar

Personally, I have not heard or seen anything like crime in Mithila but movie has shown how some people are using the means of crime for their own selfish motives. And such people are reason for Bihar being one of the very undeveloped state in the country.

Picture Credit: Mithila Makhaan 

Movie as a Revolution in the Field of Entertainment

We all are aware how the people of other states view Bihar as. It is because of the content filmmakers in Bihar show in the name of entertainment. Most of the movies in local dialects of Bihar are so cheap that we can’t even see them with our families. I don’t know what make these film makers to produce such films.
But the movie Mithila Makhaan is something different, it has shown the culture and heritage of Bihar. And that is why the movie earned a National Award.

 
Music of the Movie

Okay, believe me or not, but the movie has very beautiful songs. Popular singers like Sonu Nigam, Udit Narayan Jha, Suresh Wadkar and Hariharan has given their voices for the film. Lyrics are written so beautifully. In fact the filmmakers have used some lyrics from the Poems of “Mahakavi Vidyapati” as well.

 
What I Loved the Most About the Movie?

Being from Mithila, I myself feel very connected to the movie. The views of the villages made me nostalgic as well. Apart from the storyline and music, what I loved the most about the movie is the Play of Vidyapati they have shown in the film. Since the childhood, I have heard the story of Ugna Mahadev and Vidyapati several times and watching that again in a film made me feel proud of being a Maithil.

 
Message to the Readers

If you are from Mithila or any other part of Bihar, you must watch the film, you would love every part of it. If you are not from Bihar, you should also watch the film, you would get to learn a lot of new things about Bihar and you will get to know that Bihar is not what you think it is.

 
Written By: Nidhi Jha