GUWAHATI, June 1 � Witch-hunting or witchcraft is a serious social menace riding on superstition, coupled with greed of certain criminal gangs. In an attempt to spread awareness against this menace, Angeekar Films is going to produce its first Assamese feature film Aei Maatite to be directed by eminent theatre personality Dr Sitanath Lahkar. The film is an adaptation of his famous stage play Tamasaa.
Aei Maatite will have a very strong message against witchcraft, upholding the value of scientific temperament and human life. It is prevalent in many states like Assam, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana. Thousands of innocent people have lost their lives due to this evil practice, where villagers took part en mass under the influence of superstition.
Commenting on his maiden feature film, Dr Lahkar said, �Witch-hunting, born out of superstition and all-round backwardness of people which gets aggravated by a small powerful section of the society with the help of sorcerers, stands out to be an enemy of humanity, stigma of civilisation and hence a big challenge for us. Hundreds of people in Assam have lost their lives in the name of witch-hunting, and so is the reason for chosing this issue as the subject of my first feature film.� The film will mainly talk about the witch-hunting problem in Assam and how a section of people are using witchcraft for their own interest.
The film will also cinematically showcase some of the inhuman killings in the name of witch-hunting and appeal to the people to uphold humanity on the basis of reason and scientific explanations. The shooting of the film will start from June and is expected to be released by the year-end.
The crusader against the menace of witch-hunting Birubala Rabha will be seen in the film.