Manipuri Film 'Boong' Shines at New York Indian Film Festival
Celebrating Indian Cinema
Poster of the Manipuri film 'Boong'. (Photo Credit)
New York, June 2: The BAFTA-winning Manipuri film Boong achieved remarkable success at the recently concluded New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF), securing three prestigious awards, including the Best Child Actor accolade for its young lead.
The NYIFF 2026 wrapped up its four-day event on Sunday, celebrating excellence in Indian cinema across ten competitive categories.
Running from May 28 to 31, the festival featured a 4K restored version of the iconic film Sholay and commenced with a special screening of Boong on May 29.
Baksho Bondi (Shadowbox) was awarded the Best Film title, while Boong emerged as the standout winner of the night, clinching three awards: Best Debut Film (as chosen by the Film Critics Circle of India), Best Director for Lakshmipriya Devi, and Best Child Actor for Gugun Kipgen.
This year's festival, organized by the Indo-American Arts Council (IAAC), showcased a total of 19 narrative features, four documentary features, and 27 shorts (both narratives and documentaries), including several world premieres and a special program for LGBTQ shorts.
The event highlighted a rich variety of films in 15 different languages, emphasizing the increasing prominence of regional narratives in modern Indian cinema, and brought together filmmakers and artists at North America's longest-running festival dedicated to independent Indian cinema.
Festival Director Aseem Chhabra remarked that the nominated films reflected the breadth and depth of storytelling in contemporary India.
He noted, "From human dramas to comedies, and narratives that resonate with Millennials and Gen Z, these films embody a cinema that is both locally grounded and globally impactful."
Nikhil Yadav was honored as Best Actor for his role in Vimukt, while Meenakshi Jayan received the Best Actress award for Victoria.
The Best Screenplay award went to Nikhil Mahajan and Prajakt Deshmukh for Tighee. In the documentary categories, Deja Vu was recognized as Best Documentary Feature, Waai won Best Documentary Short, and Jo's Turn took home the Best Narrative Short award.
The festival concluded with a glamorous awards ceremony attended by notable figures from the Indian-American community, filmmakers, and cinema enthusiasts.