72 years after the Indian Independence, the picturesque hills of Darjeeling have finally ceased to scream in silence. For writer-director Shenpenn Khymsar, a Tibetan exile activist who grew up in Darjeeling, has finally made a film that portrays a true picture of the Northeast. Broken Wings, a musical love story of a vulnerable hill boy and the daughter of a man in power set in the background of the Gorkhaland uprising, attempts to tug at your heartstrings.

The activist in Shenpenn Khymsar is very much alive with his realistic depiction of the happenings in the Northeast and the pain, anguish and anger of the youth, the ashes of which still await the proverbial unicorn to revive the spirit of the land. “I am a displaced Tibetan who has grown up in Darjeeling, worked in a Chinese restaurant struggling to become an actor, failed and went to the US, mowed lawns, was denied political asylum, fled to Canada and returned as a citizen wiser by the experience. My journey has not been an easy one, but the experience and the knowledge gained reflects in my work. I am the Eklavya, and life is my Dronacharya,” says the young man.

Walking his own path, not letting others’ goals and dreams influence his life, Khymsar is back in India to give flight to Broken Wings. “The film is not just a reflection of my younger days. It also attempts to make heard the voice of the youth of Darjeeling. Divulging that it was music that helped fill the emptiness in his heart and quelled the destructive rage in him, Khymsar wants Broken Wings to mirror the emotions of Northeastern youth and hopes that the rest of India will reflect upon the ‘don’t care’ attitude towards his hometown.

“There is amazing talent in the Northeast, but very few emerge. Ironic as it may seem, I want Broken Wings to be the wind beneath many Northeastern broken wings. Shenpenn Khymsar is definitely a creative mind who leads by example. True to his words, his lead hero and most of the cast are from the Northeast, with the exception of those who are playing characters from outside the Northeast. “I am a realist. My life story is as real as real can be.

Hence, my film speaks the truth without greasepaint or filters. The cruel reality should shake the viewer to the core. My aim has always been to be true to my subject,” says Khymsar, who has also composed the music of the film besides producing, writing and directing it.

Khymsar has also made an internationally-acclaimed feature-length documentary, Journey of a Dream, that takes audiences on an epic global journey into heavy metal music, exile, Buddhism and Tibetan roots; and JigdenThe Beginning, a short crime thriller, and Lhasa Blues before he made Broken Wings.