Tibetan exile Shenpenn Khymsar is the wind beneath Broken Wings, India's first 'real' film from Darjeeling, made 72 years after Independence
“In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.”
– Albert Camus
Tibetan exile, Vancouverite, a monster shredder and a riveting international actor-director-writer-poet-lyricist Shenpenn Khymsar’s experience belies his youth as he speaks of his passion with the fierceness of a lion, his words embodying the pride, courage and integrity as much as the wisdom and compassion needed for an intelligent representation imperative to realistic cinema. More so when it comes from a diehard activist known for speaking the truth without the shroud of diplomacy.
CULTURAL RESET
Shenpenn Khymsar has now returned to his roots, India, to give flight to Broken Wings, his first feature film that has touched upon the socially and politically conscious human rights crusade during the Gorkhaland agitation. Khymsar has set his love story in the backdrop of a burning Darjeeling with broken wings screaming for flight.
There is a vital difference between blind optimism and hope as an act of rebellion. “My Buddhist values, my conscience and my Tibetanness does not allow me to sit comfortably on the sidelines. Broken Wings is the first true representation of the Northeast. To an average Indian, Nepali means momos, security guards and a regiment known for bravery and khukris. I am daring to make a cultural reset about 46 million untapped people from the Northeast in an artistic sense, and asking for inclusiveness, albeit in an entertaining manner.”