Not your old superhero saga! Children’s cinema grows up

Feb 28, 2026 | 19:51 IST

Assamese director Rima Das (left) with the cast of ‘Not A Hero’ at the Berlin Film Fest

Boong’s BAFTA win shows how a new wave of Indian filmmakers is looking beyond capes and cartoons to tell layered stories of young lives

When filmmaker Lakshmipriya Devi stood on the BAFTA stage, greeting the audience with folded hands, it was a modest, locally rooted children’s film that had just pulled off something unprecedented. Her debut, ‘Boong’ — a Manipuri coming-of-age story about a schoolboy searching for his missing father — became the first Indian film ever to not just bag the ‘Best Children’s and Family Film’ award but the first Indian production to take home a BAFTA.

TOI

TOI

Not your old superhero saga! Children’s cinema grows up

Boong’s BAFTA win shows how a new wave of Indian filmmakers is looking beyond capes and cartoons to tell layered stories of young lives

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TOI

Not your old superhero saga! Children’s cinema grows up

Boong’s BAFTA win shows how a new wave of Indian filmmakers is looking beyond capes and cartoons to tell layered stories of young lives

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