''Leipaklei'' () is a 2012 Indian

Meitei language Meitei (), also known as Manipuri (, ), is a Tibeto-Burman language of north-eastern India. It is spoken by around 1.8 million people, predominantly in the state of Manipur, but also by smaller communities in the rest of the country and in pa ...

film directed and produced by

Aribam Syam Sharma Aribam Syam Sharma is an Indian filmmaker and composer from Manipur. He debuted in the first Manipuri film ''Matamgi Manipur'' as an actor. In 1974, he directed his first movie ''Lamja Parshuram''. It became the first Manipuri film to run for 100 ...

. It stars Leishangthem Tonthoi in the titular role. The story of the film was written by Arambam Samarendra and screenplay by Arambam Ongbi Memchoubi. ''Leipaklei'' was screened on the inaugural day of 5th Guwahati Film Festival 2012. It was also screened at the 18th

Kolkata International Film Festival The Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF) is an annual film festival held in Kolkata, India. Founded in 1995, it is the third oldest international film festival in India. The festival is organized by the West Bengal Film Centre under the W ...

and

Jeonju International Film Festival Jeonju International Film Festival (JIFF, Korean: 전주국제영화제, Hanja: 全州國際映畵祭) is an Asian film festival. It was launched in 2000 as a non-competitive film festival with partial competition. It introduces independent a ...

(JIFF) held at

Jeonju Jeonju () is the 16th largest city in South Korea and the capital of North Jeolla Province. It is both urban and rural due to the closeness of Wanju County which almost entirely surrounds Jeonju (Wanju County has many residents who work in Jeonju) ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

. The film won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Manipuri at the

60th National Film Awards The 60th National Film Awards ceremony was an event during which the Directorate of Film Festivals presented its annual National Film Awards to honour the best films of 2012 in the Indian cinema. The ceremony was held on 3 May 2013 and was host ...

Synopsis

The film ''Leipaklei'' tells the story of Leipaklei, a woman named after a Manipuri flower. Like the flower whose habitat is the hard ground, she is surrounded by hard trials and ironies of fate: separation from the one who loved and is still loved by her, abandonment by her husband, the trials of being a single parent, the violence of the gaze of men who sees her as fair game. Not unlike the flower ''Leipaklei'', which hibernates beneath parched grounds – dreaming for a spring past, the protagonist dreams of the return of her beloved. He returns.

Cast

* Leishangthem Tonthoi as Leipaklei *

Lairenjam Olen Lairenjam Olen is an Indian actor who predominantly appears in Manipuri films. He started as a Theatre Artist and was a member of Orient Drama Union, Imphal. His famous films include ''Dr. Yaima'', ''Mittrang Keithel'', ''Khongchat'' series, '' ...

as Ibotomba * Gurumayum Kalpana as Tamurei * Thingom Pritam as Thoiba * Gurumayum Priyogopal as Khura * Sundari as Mandon * ''Baby'' Rainy as Meme

Accolades

''Leipaklei'' won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Manipuri at the

. The citation for the National Award reads, "''A simple story told in a straight-forward simple narrative highlighting social reality''".

References

{{Reflist 2010s Meitei-language films 2012 films Films directed by Aribam Syam Sharma

Synopsis

Cast

Accolades

See also

References