41st Shumang Leela fest starts
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, May 06 2013:
The 41st All Manipur Shumang Leela Festival 2013 organised by Manipur State Kala Akademi has kick started at Iboyaima Shumang Leela Shanglen from today.
Governor Gurbachan Jagat and Padmashree RK Jhalajit Singh attended the opening function as chief guest and president respectively.
Speaking at the occasion, Gurbachan Jagat said that it must be the responsibility of every citizen of the State to ensure that the rich tradition of Shumang Leela is preserved and propagated for posterity.
He also emphasised on the need to conduct more researches on Shumang Leela so that the art form is understood in its totality.
The tendency to absorb styles from cinema does not do much good to this art form and many experts believe that this has led to its stagnation and without patronage, Shumang Leela may wither away like other art forms of the State, he observed.
"In many parts of the country, many indigenous art forms have vanished but I am happy to note that in Manipur, because of its rich traditions, many art forms are still surviving in the 21st century and for this I congratulate the people of Manipur for their contribution, especially the promoters and artistes of these rare art forms", he said.
Gurbachan Jagat also distributed awards to the winners of the 40th Shumang Leela Festival held last year.
In the female group, the award of best script went to Chana Lukhoi's 'Nungjeng Peeba', while W Kamini's 'Hingliba Thawai' bagged the second best script award.
'Soura' of Imphal Theatre, 'Khwai Nungjeng Piba' of Sagolband Moirang Leirak Meitei Leima Jatra cum Drama Association and 'Hingliba Thawai' of Women Arts and Cultural Association got best production, second best production and third best production awards respectively.
L Premila Leima won best actor award in 'Khwai Nungjeng Piba' while L Dhanabati got second best actor award in 'Khamba'.
The awards of best actress and second best actress went to N Jaya Chanu and Bidyapati Devi respectively.
Loitongbam Dorendra won best director prize for his play, 'Soura' and AK Bengol got second best director award for his play, 'Khwai Nungjeng Piba' .