The Boong BAFTA win made history: a small Manipuri film about a boy searching for his father became the first Indian winner at the British Academy Film Awards. Here are seven facts about the film, the people behind it and why it matters.
The Boong BAFTA win came on 22 February 2026, when Lakshmipriya Devi’s Manipuri-language film took Best Children’s and Family Film at the 79th British Academy Film Awards in London. It beat Zootropolis 2, Lilo & Stitch and Arco, and news reports widely described it as the first Indian film to win a BAFTA.
The film had already travelled the festival circuit for more than a year before that night. After the award it returned to Indian cinemas, giving a wider audience its first chance to see it.
Boong BAFTA at a glance
- Award: Best Children’s and Family Film, 79th BAFTA Film Awards
- Ceremony date: 22 February 2026, Royal Festival Hall, London
- Director and writer: Lakshmipriya Devi, in her feature debut
- Producers: Farhan Akhtar, Ritesh Sidhwani, Vikesh Bhutani, Alan McAlex and Shujaat Saudagar
- Language: Meiteilon (Manipuri)
- Lead: Gugun Kipgen as Brojendro, known as Boong
- World premiere: Toronto International Film Festival, 5 September 2024
- India release: 19 September 2025, with a wider re-release on 6 March 2026
- Runtime: 94 minutes
1. The Boong BAFTA win was a first for India
Boong is the first Indian film reported to have won a BAFTA. The award was credited to Lakshmipriya Devi and producer Ritesh Sidhwani, according to the film’s Wikipedia entry, which cites the BBC and other outlets on the milestone.
The win came in a category that rarely makes headlines, and against two Disney titles. It won on the strength of the film alone, without a studio campaign of that size behind it, which made the Boong BAFTA result all the more striking.
2. It is a child’s adventure with a serious heart
Brojendro, nicknamed Boong, lives in Imphal with his mother Mandakini. His father, Joykumar, moved to Moreh, a town on the border with Myanmar, to run a furniture shop and then stopped getting in touch. People around Boong whisper that his father is dead.
Boong refuses to believe it, and with his best friend Raju he sets off to bring him home. Underneath the adventure is a film about a region living with displacement and uncertainty, told through someone too young to understand all of it.
3. The cast is local and largely unfamiliar to Bollywood fans
Gugun Kipgen plays Boong, and his performance has already earned recognition: he received a Best Actor special mention at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne in 2025. Bala Hijam plays Mandakini, his mother, and Angom Sanamatum plays Raju Agarwal, his best friend.
The supporting cast includes Vikram Kochhar, Nemetia Ngangbam, Jenny Khurai and Hamom Sadananda as Boong’s father. Most of the faces will be new to audiences in the Gulf, which is part of the film’s charm.
4. It is Lakshmipriya Devi’s debut feature
Devi wrote and directed Boong, and a headline cited on Wikipedia says it was inspired by her grandmother’s stories. She wrote the script in 2018, but the pandemic delayed her plans. She then sent it to Vikesh Bhutani of Chalkboard Entertainment, who budgeted it and offered to produce, which led to Alan McAlex and Excel Entertainment.
Accepting the award, she used the Boong BAFTA moment to draw attention to the long-running ethnic conflict in Manipur, as The Wire reported. The speech was widely shared in India for that reason.
5. Big-name producers backed a small film
Boong is a co-production between Excel Entertainment, Chalkboard Entertainment and Suitable Pictures, with Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani among the producers. Excel is better known for Dil Chahta Hai and Mirzapur, so backing a 94-minute Manipuri debut was an unusual bet.
Behind the camera, Tanay Satam shot the film, Shreyas Beltangdy edited it, and Zubin Balaporia and Akhu Chingangbam composed the score. Farhan Akhtar was among the Indian names at the ceremony, as our report on Indian stars at the 79th BAFTAs shows.
6. The Boong BAFTA win followed a long festival run
The film premiered in the Discovery section of the Toronto International Film Festival on 5 September 2024. It went on to screen at festivals including Warsaw, São Paulo, MAMI Mumbai, Tallinn Black Nights, the International Film Festival of India and the Indian Film Festival UK.
Awards came early. Boong won Best Youth Film at the 17th Asia Pacific Screen Awards in 2024 and an Excellence in Feature Filmmaking prize at the International South Asian Film Festival in Canada. Critics at Variety and Collider praised the way it folds its political backdrop into an intimate, playful story.
7. It returned to cinemas after the award
Boong first opened in India on 19 September 2025, in select cities through PVR INOX, with a U certificate. After the Boong BAFTA win it was re-released on 6 March 2026 in major centres including Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Guwahati and Imphal.
A UAE release or streaming date had not been confirmed at the time of writing. Viewers in the Gulf should watch cinema listings and streaming apps, and the official Excel Entertainment channels, for an announcement.
Why the Boong BAFTA win matters
Most Indian films that travel abroad are in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu or Malayalam. A Manipuri film winning a major British award shows that smaller-language industries can compete internationally, and it puts the North-East of India on the global film map.
It also came in a mixed season for Indian cinema abroad. A month earlier, India’s Oscar entry Homebound reached the shortlist but missed a nomination, which made the BAFTA result the brightest moment of the awards season for Indian film. The official BAFTA winners list shows the company it kept.
Boong BAFTA FAQs
What award did Boong win at the BAFTAs?
Best Children’s and Family Film at the 79th BAFTA Film Awards on 22 February 2026, ahead of Zootropolis 2, Lilo & Stitch and Arco.
Is Boong the first Indian film to win a BAFTA?
Yes. News reports at the time described the Boong BAFTA win as the first for an Indian film.
Can I watch Boong in the UAE?
No UAE cinema or streaming date had been confirmed at the time of writing. Check local cinema listings and streaming apps for updates.
The Boong BAFTA story is one of the year’s best for regional cinema. Find more international film stories in our Global Cinema section.