Village Rockstars 2: A Film of Authentic and Observational Storytelling

Dir/scr: Rima Das. India/Singapore. 2024. 107mins

In her 2017 docu-drama Village Rockstars, Rima Das explored life in a small Indian village through the experiences of her 10-year-old protagonist Dhunu (played by Das’s niece Bhanita Das) — then, a free-spirited tomboy with a dream of owning her own guitar and playing in a band. Seven years later, Das returns to follow Dhunu as she navigates an increasingly rocky path to adulthood in this loose and languid film.

Observational, authentic

Rima Das uses observational, authentic storytelling to portray the struggles of the people of Assam, an area which is feeling the full effects of climate change and the increasingly cut-throat battle for land and resources.

Back to Reality

Dhunu is now 17 and, while hints of typically teenage pursuits make themselves felt — listening to love songs with her friends, discussing local boys — she is still fundamentally the same. She loves nothing better than climbing trees and romping through the fields in the small Assam village of Kalardiya, on the banks of the river Brahmaputra in northeast India. While her dreams of playing in a band may not have materialised — the others, she says, have grown up and forgotten about it — she is not resentful.

Unlike many films of this nature, Das does not imbue her protagonist with overwhelming yearnings for life beyond her village. The focus is very much on the here-and-now and, working as cinematographer (and producer, editor, and production designer), Das captures the natural beauty of the landscape in which Dhunu feels so rooted, along with the simple comforts of the home she shares with her widowed mother (Basanti Das) and brother (Manabendra Das).

Hardships and Struggle

While Dhunu finds much to enjoy about life, there is no escaping the hardships — particularly as she leaves childish pursuits behind. Rock stardom having not materialised, she is pulled into the backbreaking toil of working the land; something made even more difficult by frequent floods. With money and food scarce, Dhunu’s mother’s health begins to fail. Opportunistic brokers pray on people’s fears to buy up land at knock-down prices. Dhunu and her friends watch as trees are felled and fields dug up to make way for new buildings which have no connection to the local community. The stress causes cracks to appear in her own family unit.

Conclusion

Village Rockstars 2 is a film that amplifies the struggles of the people of Assam, an area that is feeling the full effects of climate change and the increasingly cut-throat battle for land and resources.

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