‘Local Utpaat’: Filmmaker Kenny Deori Basumatary shares blueprint of film’s success

Made at a budget of Rs 3 million, Assamese filmmaker Kenny Deori Basumatary’s fourth venture ‘Local Utpaat’ has cracked the elusive Rs 10 million club, becoming a sort of youth phenomenon in the process.

An undeniable success, the film tells the tale of Amit, Jonny and Montu who live in a rented house owned by a sleepwalking landlord Deben Da. 

When Amit`s girlfriend Maya has a quarrel with her sister, it sets off a chain of hilarious events involving a lot of people.

Despite coming up against biggies such as ‘Doctor Strange: In the Multiverse of Madness at the box office’, the Assamese comedy flick very much held its own and is running for its eighth straight week in Guwahati city.

Interestingly, Basumatary, an independent filmmaker who has also played supporting roles in Bollywood films Shanghai (2012), Mary Kom (2014) and Raag Desh (2017), had to resort to crowdfunding during the film’s post-production process.

“In all, our film cost Rs 3 million to make. As the film has crossed Rs 10 million, I will be able to pay off my debts, ”Basumatary, who rose to prominence with his 2013 debut ‘Local Kung Fu’, shared with India Today NE.
The money earned from the film, Basumatary said, will be funneled into the team’s next project.

“The profits will remain in circulation as they will be used to make our next film – maybe ‘Local Kung Fu 3’ or something else. I also plan to pay small bonuses to our entire team to celebrate the project’s success. Thankfully, we won’t have to ask for money again for our next film.”

Basumatary, in a first, has incorporated rom-com elements with unexpected dramatic heft in ‘Local Utpaat’. Additionally, the filmmaker has also infused his fourth film with relevant social commentary. 

“To build up to the climax, we needed to lay the groundwork with relatable characters. Through dramatic scenes, we sought to flesh out the relations between the characters. For instance, we paid a special emphasis to the sibling bond between the main character played by myself and Bonni Deori, as well as the main romantic couple. We added the dramatic scenes so that people could root for these people to succeed,” he told us.

“Although we never meant to be preachy, I did not shy away from addressing some issues that I feel strongly about. For instance, . Students from lower to middle class backgrounds. Moreover, we wanted to create realistic obstacles for the protagonist to overcome,” Basumatrary added, addressing the elements of social commentary in his film.

Deori Basumatary said the initial goal was to create a film “as funny as possible” by combining the ‘Local Kung Fu’ and ‘Heavy Budget’ teams.  ('Heavy Budget is a YouTube channel where Basumatary’s friends and cousins make short comedic skits).

“The way I visualized the film initially, I wanted it to have comedic elements and make the audience howl with laughter. I figured, in between, there would be one or two fights, and the climax would be full-on comedic with action scenes,’ the filmmaker recalled.

Elaborating on his creative process, Basumatary said he first selects the cast before penning down the plot based on their strengths and weaknesses. Notably, Basumatary’s films mostly feature his friends and relatives.

“We zero in on the lead cast, and chart out their strengths and weaknesses. After that, we have to determine the characters’ motivations and how they will come into conflict. I map all these elements out before constructing the story. We then proceed to add formulaic elements – such as fights and twists in the story.”