India’s First BAFTA Winner Boong Is Returning to Cinemas on March 6 — Here’s Everything You Need to Know

History was made on February 22, 2026, when a small Manipuri film produced by Farhan Akhtar’s Excel Entertainment walked onto the stage at London’s Royal Festival Hall and won a BAFTA Award — the first Indian film ever to do so. Now, Boong is coming back to Indian cinemas for everyone to witness that landmark achievement for themselves.

Boong — Key Details

Why Is Boong Returning to Cinemas?

Simple — it just made history. At the 79th British Academy Film Awards held on February 22, 2026 in London, the Manipuri language film Boong won the Best Children’s and Family Film Award, bankrolled by Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani’s production house Excel Entertainment.

Following the win, Farhan Akhtar announced the re-release on Instagram with a message that said the film is a journey of innocence, love, and resilience — inviting audiences to witness India’s first BAFTA Award-winning film back on the big screen on March 6.

The Story Behind the Film

Boong tells the tale of a schoolboy named Boong who fights the conflicts and racial tensions in Manipur in order to reunite his family and make them return to their home. It’s an emotionally rooted, deeply personal story — and that sincerity is what clearly resonated with BAFTA voters.

While accepting the award, director Lakshmipriya Devi expressed that the walk to the stage felt like the final few steps to the summit of a mountain the team never knew they were climbing — and revealed that the story is deeply rooted in her troubled hometown of Manipur.

Those words hit differently knowing the film was quietly screened at film festivals before reaching theatres. The award-winning film was screened at multiple film festivals before it was finally released in cinemas for the first time on September 19, 2025.

Gugun Kipgen plays the title character alongside a strong ensemble cast including Bala Hijam, Angom Sanamatum, Vikram Kochhar, and others.

Why This Matters for Indian Cinema

This isn’t just a win for Excel Entertainment or for Lakshmipriya Devi. It’s a win for every regional language filmmaker in India who has ever been told their story is too local, too small, or too niche for global recognition. A Manipuri coming-of-age drama beating international competition at BAFTA is the kind of moment that rewrites what’s possible.

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