Why Achinta Shankar’s Homework Matters In Contemporary Assamese Cinema

The Assamese feature film Homework, directed by Achinta Shankar, is not a perfect cinematic masterpiece. It has its shortcomings and flaws, and at times, the film does feel rough around the edges. Yet despite all that, Homework becomes an important film at this particular juncture where Assamese society, as well as Assamese cinema, stands today.

Not simply because it tells the story of children, but because it is a children’s film that tries to tell stories that should be told without becoming preachy or unnecessarily dramatic.

Most filmmakers make films keeping adults in mind. Even when children are present in the story, filmmakers rarely consider what children genuinely want to watch or what kinds of stories they should be exposed to.

Apart from the superhero spectacles that the MCU and the DCU constantly offer, what meaningful children’s content are children really consuming today, especially in Assam?

The animated films made by Hollywood’s big production houses rarely find a proper audience among the children of Assam. Apart from a small section of children whose parents have access to international films, streaming platforms or English-language entertainment, most children here grow up disconnected from those worlds.

The cartoons and animated shows children watch nowadays hardly carry the same emotional warmth, simplicity or imagination that cartoons from the early 90s or even the late 2000s had.

Everything now feels fast, loud and overly digital. So perhaps cinema remains one of the last spaces through which children can still experience stories that are humane, simple and emotionally grounded.

That is where Homework becomes important.

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Today’s society is constantly running behind a fixed template of success- score marks, crack examinations, enter competitive spaces and repeat the cycle.

Children are growing up believing that life is only about academics, tuition classes, screens and pressure. In such an atmosphere, Homework arrives almost like a breath of fresh air.

The film tries to remind children that life also exists outside the four walls of classrooms and homes. That friendships matter. Curiosity matters. Enjoying small moments matters too. And because cinema is a visual medium, its impact automatically becomes stronger. Children absorb things differently when they see them unfold visually.

What Homework tries to say is actually very simple- life is not only about scoring marks or getting trapped inside digital entertainment. There is a world outside all of that, and children deserve to experience it.

This is precisely why the film feels important in the current Assamese cinematic landscape.

Today, a large section of Assamese cinema either seems obsessed with politically motivated narratives or mindlessly follows commercial templates inspired by mainstream South Indian films- high-octane action, exaggerated heroism, loud presentation and unnecessary reboots and remakes (disguised as sequels) of classic Assamese films. Somewhere between all this noise, films rooted in simplicity and emotional honesty have become increasingly rare.

Homework may not be cinematically perfect, but it attempts to speak honestly to children, and that itself has value.

If more films like Homework are made in the future, perhaps with stronger cinematic quality and a deeper understanding of children’s emotional worlds, they can genuinely influence not only children but parents and society as a whole. And perhaps that is where the true importance of Homework lies today in Assamese cinema.

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