GUWAHATI, Sept 28 - Even when she was virtually on her deathbed, filmmaker Kalpana Lajmi had nursed a dream of making a biopic on Dr Bhupen Hazarika.
Lajmi, a long-time companion of the music maestro, had even visualised versatile actor Manoj Bajpayee as the lead.
AASU president Dipanka Nath, who met Lajmi in Mumbai a few months before she passed away, told The Assam Tribune on the sidelines of a prayer meet held in her memory here today, that Lajmi, despite being unwell, still had the project at the back of her mind.
�She told us who she wants to play the role of Dr Hazarika. She thought Manoj Bajpayee was the only one who would be able to bring alive the dynamics of the music icon�s personality in celluloid,� Nath said.
AASU general secretary Lurin Jyoti Gogoi told this reporter, �She had wanted to name the movie Dhumuha.� The AASU team had recorded the entire conversation between them and her in Mumbai.
The memorial meet was organised under the aegis of Sur Sandhaan in association with AASU.
Remembering Lajmi, Editor of weekly newspaper Sadin, Anuradha Sarma Pujari, said Lajmi was a sensitive woman. Apart from being a quality filmmaker, she had a strong literary sense. �She was at times misunderstood and misinterpreted,� she said.
Echoing similar sentiments, Dr Hazarika�s close aide and musician Kamal Kotoky said it was tough to manage a towering yet peculiar personality like Dr Hazarika, but Lajmi did that. �Her love for Dr Hazarika was unparalleled,� he said.
Manisha Hazarika, singer and sister-in-law of Dr Hazarika, said Lajmi was instrumental in taking Bhupenda�s works to the world stage.
AASU adviser Dr Samujjal Bhattacharyya, litterateur Surya Hazarika and senior journalist Samudra Gupta Kashyap among others, dwelt at length on Lajmi�s contributions.
