About Aribam Syam Sharma

Aribam Syam Sharma, the acclaimed filmmaker from Manipur, has done it all. Actor, singer, composer, theatre director, filmmaker and champion of Manipuri cinema – he is a true Renaissance man who displayed a mastery over every genre of filmmaking from blockbusters to arthouse cinema to documentaries. In a career spanning close to fifty years, Syam Sharma has directed 15 feature films, over 40 documentaries and scored the music for 25 films. He also played a key role during his three-year stint at the Manipur Film Development Council and as the first Managing Director of the Manipur Film Development Corporation towards improving the infrastructure for film production and the creation of avenues for the appreciation of cinema in Manipur.

‘I believe that as filmmakers, we need to return to our roots again and again to make films, which stand as works of art’, said Aribam Syam Sharma, whose films put Manipuri cinema on the world map. Known for his simple, poetic narratives about ordinary people, rooted in the culture of Manipur, Aribam Syam Sharma’s body of work has stayed true to this belief.

Born in 1936, Syam Sharma came to the world of cinema through music and drama. He composed and sang songs and acted in plays right from his school days. When he was in D.M. [Dhanamanjuri] College, he formed the Amateur Artistes Association along with some friends, which became the forerunner of Roop Raag, the oldest musical association in the state founded in 1960 to promote modern Manipuri music. Syam Sharma graduated with a Masters in Philosophy from the storied Vishwa Bharati University in Santiniketan where he also studied Rabindra Sangeet. His time at Santiniketan had a profound impact on his artistic outlook and creative philosophy.

Syam Sharma’s first foray into film was as an actor and composer in the first Manipuri feature film Matamgi Manipur (Debkumar Bose, 1972). His debut feature was Lamja Parshuram (1974), which became the first film to run in the cinemas for over 100 days in Manipur. His second film, Saaphabee (1976), won him the first of many National Awards. The film Olangthagee Wangmadasoo (1979) marked the beginning of a long and successful creative collaboration between Syam Sharma and M.K. Binodini Devi, one of the daughters of Maharaj Churachand of Manipur and one of the greatest writers in the history of Manipur. The result was a film that continues to hold the record as the longest running Manipuri film so far in the history of Manipuri cinema with the record run of 32 weeks. Having directed a blockbuster and feeling confident that he done his part in Manipuri cinema making a mark at the box office, Syam Sharma decided to leave the mainstream behind. The result was Imagi Ningthem (1981) that made the world sit up and take notice. With Imagi Ningthem, Syam Sharma became the first Indian recipient of the prestigious Montgolfière D’or at the Festival des Trois Continents, Nantes. His film Ishanou was selected in the Un Certain Regard section at the 44th Cannes International Film Festival. He has won multiple National Awards over the years for his films Saaphabee, Olangthagee Wangmadasoo, Imagi Ningthem, Ishanou, Sanabi (1995) and Leipaklei (2012).

Each of his documentaries explored an aspect of the rich Manipuri culture. His National Film Award winning documentaries are: The Deer on the Lake (1989), Indigenous Games of Manipur (1990), Meitei Pung (1991), Orchids of Manipur (1994), Yelhou Jagoi (1995), Thang-Ta: Martial Arts of Manipur (1991), The Monpas of Arunachal Pradesh (2001), Guru Laimayum Thambalngoubi (2006) and Manipur Pony (2012). Sangai: The Dancing Deer of Manipur (1988) was declared as the ‘Outstanding Film of the Year’ in 1989 by the British Film Institute and won five awards at the 12th International Wildlife Film Festival in Montana, USA.