Assamese cinema

Assamese cinema (formerly Jollywood) , is an Indian film industry of Assamese-language. It is based in Assam, India. The industry was born in 1935 when Jyoti Prasad Agarwala released his movie Joymoti. Since then the Assamese cinema has developed a slow-paced, sensitive style, especially with the movies of Bhabendra Nath Saikia and Jahnu Barua. In beginning the industry were called Jollywood, named for Agarwala's Jyoti Chitraban Film Studio. Despite its long history and its artistic successes, for a state that has always taken its cinema seriously, Assamese cinema has never really managed to break through on the national scene despite its film industry making a mark in the National Awards over the years. Although the beginning of the 21st century has seen Bollywood-style Assamese movies hitting the screen, the industry has not been able to compete in the market, significantly overshadowed by the larger industries such as Bollywood. List of Assamese films of the 1930s The origins of Assamese cinema can be traced back to Rupkonwar Jyotiprasad Agarwala, who was also a noted poet, playwright, composer and freedom fighter. He was instrumental in the production of the first Assamese Film Joymati in 1935, under the banner of Chitralekha Movietone. Aideu Handique was the heroine of this movie. Due to the lack of trained technicians, Jyotiprasad, while making his maiden film, shouldered the added responsibilities as the scriptwriter, producer, director, choreographer, editor, set and costume designer, lyricist, and music director. The film, completed with a budget of 60,000 rupees was released on 10 March 1935. The picture failed. Like so many early Indian films, the negatives and complete prints of Joymati are missing. Some effort has been made privately by Altaf Mazid to restore and subtitle whatever is left of the prints. Despite the significant financial loss from Joymati, the second picture Indramalati was filmed between 1937 and 1938 finally released in 1939. Pramathesh Barua released his Assamese version of Devdas in 1937.