Manipuri comedy-drama Boong, produced by Farhan Akhtar’s Excel Entertainment, won the prestigious BAFTA Award for Best Children’s and Family Film in London on Sunday. The film’s debutant director, Lakshmipriya Devi, made an emotional plea for peace in her acceptance speech after receiving the coveted trophy from Paddington Bear, the lead character starring in the West End show, Paddington the Musical.
She was joined on stage by producers Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani and the assistant director of Boong, Rahul Sharda. The Manipuri film, starring Gugun Kipgen and Bala Hijam, beat international competition from other nominees ‘Lilo and Stitch’, ‘Arco’ and ‘Zootropolis 2’. Asked about her reaction, Devi said the walk up to receive the award felt like the last few steps to reach a summit of a mountain she never knew she was climbing in the first place. “I want to use this opportunity to say that we pray for peace to return to Manipur, we pray that all the internally displaced children, including the child actors in the film, regain their joy, their innocence and their dream once again,” she said.
“We pray that no conflict is ever formidable enough to destroy the one superpower that all of us have as human beings, that is forgiveness. So, thank you BAFTA for giving us not only an award but this stage to express our hope,” she said. The action thriller ‘One Battle After Another’ dominated the 79th British Academy Film Awards, popularly known as the BAFTAs, winning six awards including Best Films. Paul Thomas Anderson was named Best Director for ‘One Battle After Another.’ The star-studded 2026 British Academy Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Awards, held at the Royal Festival Hall by the river Thames, included Bollywood star Alia Bhatt as a celebrity guest presenter for the Best Film not in the English Language trophy for Nordic drama ‘Sentimental Value’.
