Farhan Akhtar-backed ‘Boong’ scored a historic victory by winning the BAFTA award, the one and only for an Indian film this year. The Manipuri debut feature won the British Academy Award for “Best Children’s and Family Film” despite being India’s only BAFTA nominee this year.
The 79th annual British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards took place on February 22 at the Royal Festival Hall in London.
Celebrating the major win, debutant director Lakshmipriya Devi said, “‘Boong’ means little boy, in my language, Manipuri. So it’s about a boy who wants to get a very special gift for his mother. So he thinks that if he finds his father who has been missing for some time, that would be the best gift for his mother. So that’s basically the story of the film.”
Speaking to Deadline, producer Farhan Akhtar said, “Well, for starters, it’s an LP and I’ve known him for almost 20 years. This is her first film as a director, so it’s a very special moment in her life and it’s amazing that we’re a part of it.”
He added: “It’s also a film that’s set in an area of India where we have very few films that we get to see… films that come out of there… So it was nice to support that as well. And it’s a very, very heartwarming and very sweet story. So it just felt right.”
Despite competition from Hollywood blockbusters Zootopia 2 and Lilo & Stitch, it still managed to win the award. In her acceptance speech, Lakshmipriya Devi made an emotional plea for peace in Manipur after receiving the coveted trophy from Paddington Bear – the lead character in the West End show ‘Paddington The Musical’.
More about the movie Boong
Star cast: Gugun Kipgen, Bala Hijam, Angom Sanamatum, Vikram Kochhar, Nemetia Ngangbam, Jenny Khurai and Hamom Sadananda.
Boong first premiered at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival in the Discovery section and later screened at several global film events, including the Warsaw International Film Festival 2024, the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival 2024, the International Film Festival of India and the Melbourne Film Festival of India 2025. It hit the silver screen on 19 September 2025 at IN Cinemas at PVR in India.
It was co-produced by Farhan Akhtar, Vikesh Bhutani, Alan McAlex, Ritesh Sidhwani and Shujaat Saudagar under the banners Excel Entertainment and Chalkboard Entertainment.
