I am thoroughly enjoying acting: Biana Momin

Not many in their sunset years can take the road less travelled by, and when they do, that makes all the difference. Robert Frost knew it best, and so does Biana W Momin, an educationist-turned-actress who is enjoying the silver screen at 70.

Momin, who retired in 2013 as the principal of Tura Government College, began a new chapter in her life at a time when most people are burdened by the years lived and overcome by torpor. Gifted with an enviable spirit and energy, she did not shy away from acting even though she never had any formal training. What is even more laudable is that she accepted a project that was outside her comfort zone.

Momin played a Malaysian woman in the Malayalam film Eko, which was released last November. Her character, Mlathi Chettathi, an independent and gritty woman who lives alone in an isolated place beyond the forests with her dogs, has been much-loved.

Momin has been all over social media for her performance. “Acting started really surprisingly. I had absolutely no experience and was unaware of the film industry. There is no theatre in Tura, hence, I was never much interested in films. So, it (acting) is a life-changing experience… I am thoroughly enjoying,” Momin told Meghalaya Monitor on the phone from Tura.

Momin had been an educationist all her life. She was also the chief academic officer at the Meghalaya Board of Secondary Education, and later a member of the Meghalaya Public Service Commission.

Eko is her first released film. The fame and the media exposure have brought the septuagenarian actor out of her comfort zone because she “never liked interviews or posing for the camera”. And yet, when Garo director Jenifer Areng approached her in 2024 with an acting offer, she did not refuse. She started shooting for the film Mikjumang (Reverie) in 2025. It is yet to be released and is travelling to festivals.

The journey with Eko

Momin’s character was the only prominent female character in the movie Eko, directed by Dinjith Ayyathan. She was unfamiliar with the culture, tradition and language of the southern state when she accepted the offer.

“The Eko team was looking for an elderly lady to play the role of Mlathi Chettathi. It travelled to Nagaland also, but probably did not find a suitable person. Then, Dominic (director Dominic Sangma) gave my reference to the team, and we met in Guwahati last year for the audition. I also did my research before going there. My family was a bit worried because I was going so far away from home. But the people there were welcoming and warm, and professional. They made me feel so comfortable,” she said.

Momin had a personal trainer and mentor, Anjaly Sathyanath, who helped her understand the nuances of the character and learn the language. In one of her social media posts, Sathyanath, an actress herself, said that it was her first project as a mentor. She was Momin’s “mentor, guide, trainer and friend, and we would be together all the time on the set where most of the actors and crew members were men”.

Momin was in Kerala for two months. And during this time, she prepared herself for the role. “Learning the script in Malayalam and delivering the dialogues was the most challenging task. The dialogue was given to me in both Malayalam and English. There was a dubbing artiste, and the lip sync was perfect. This is because the director and the production team would not stop until lip-syncing was perfect,” she recollected.

She said that she could not focus on acting until she learnt the dialogue by heart. The perfection was evident on screen, and it would not be easy to understand that Momin’s voice was dubbed. Her character was more reticent and had fewer lines of dialogue. According to her, she delved into her personal experience to express the feelings of Mlathi Chettathi in the film.

The beginning of the acting story

Director Jenifer Areng narrated to Meghalaya Monitor how she met “Biana aunty” and convinced her for the lead role in Mikjumang.

The story of Mikjumang follows Agame, a woman living between dream worlds, trying to reconnect with her shape-shifting dead sister. The storyline is based on the transformation myth among the Garo people.

“When I began looking for someone to play Agame, I knew it would be my biggest challenge because finding a woman in her 70s (in Tura) who was willing to act seemed next to impossible. I was also hung up on another detail: she had to have pure white hair. I chased my mum and aunts, anyone who might take a chance. But then, almost like providence, Riksil (the production head) and I spotted Biana aunty outside a local event. We walked up to her and asked if she’d be interested in acting. Although she wasn’t sure at first, we managed to convince her, and I sensed pretty early on that she was the only one who could play Agame,” Areng remembered.

The preparation for the role was critical as it involved understanding the critical character and the philosophical aspects of life.

“Beyond workshops and rehearsals, our real preparation consisted of endless conversations about life, myths, nature and wonder, all of which helped us build her character. Her curiosity and experience as a human, a person, a woman, is everything we see in Agame. For me, the best filmmaking experiences happen when you and your actor reach for something beyond words, the intangible, unknowable quality of life itself, and attempt to give it form on screen,” the director shared her journey with Momin during the shooting of the film.

She further said that Momin never complained about the hilly terrain or any discomfort and gave her best every time. It is this conviction that also helped her overcome the regional and language barriers for Eko.

“Her success with Eko doesn’t surprise me at all. It feels natural and right… She’s definitely meant for bigger things. Mikjumang is my first Garo film and Biana aunty’s first film, so in a way, we both did something scary for the first time together,” Areng said.

Beyond Eko and Mikjumang

Now that Momin has started the journey, she has no inhibitions about taking up films in other languages. “But you need to have a supportive team and a good trainer. Why not? I will definitely take up films in other languages,” she said confidently.

As the conversation with Momin veered off the silver screen and focused on the current situation in the country and the state, Meghalaya Monitor wanted to know her views about the court order involving stray animals.

“Strays are also living beings, and it is wrong to destroy them. In Eko, dogs are an important part. While the pups shown were AI-generated, the adult dogs were well-treated and had dedicated trainers. The character Mlathi said dogs should be given freedom. Her character controls the animals, but in a way that their freedom is not taken away. So, the freedom of animals matters too,” said Momin.

The next question was more political, and Momin said she never liked meddling in politics. Nonetheless, she expressed her views when asked about the killing of Dilseng Sangma, who was an NGO member working against illegal stone quarries.

“I do not like suppressing anyone or any community. I am sorry for the loss of life. The government should have acted when activists were talking about these illegal quarries. The issue has been going on for some time. Why wait for someone to die to take action,” she said.

Momin’s strong personality and joviality have made her a favourite even among strangers. A social media user wrote on X that when the audience at Cochin PVR asked Momin whether she came from Malaysia, “she proudly replied, ‘I am Indian from Meghalaya.’”