Shillong, February 8: At 70, Meghalaya’s Biana W Momin scripted history by becoming the first Garo woman to appear in a Malayalam film, earning national recognition after winning the Best Debutant (Malayalam) award at the JFW Awards in Chennai for her role in the critically acclaimed thriller Eko.
Momin walked the red carpet at the star-studded awards ceremony, organised annually by JFW (Just For Women) magazine to honour excellence in Indian cinema and popular culture. The moment marked a remarkable turnaround for the retired academic, who candidly summed up her journey by saying, “I can’t sing, I can’t dance, I can’t act - but Eko proved me wrong.”
Her achievement follows the growing popularity of Eko on Netflix, where the film has been trending, drawing renewed attention to her powerful debut. The recognition is being widely hailed as a milestone for representation of indigenous communities in regional Indian cinema.
A retired English literature teacher from Tura Government College, Momin spent much of her life in the Garo Hills of Meghalaya, leading a quiet family life, caring for her four dogs and doting on her grandchildren. Acting had never been an ambition. Yet, in an unexpected turn, she travelled over 3,000 kilometres to Kerala to take on a role in a language she did not understand.
Despite never having spoken Malayalam, Momin delivered a performance that drew praise from critics and audiences alike. She overcame the language barrier with the support of the cast and crew, learning her lines phonetically and discovering the emotional depth of scenes only once the camera began rolling.
Her entry into cinema was almost accidental. Years earlier, she had acted in an unreleased short film that led nowhere. However, still photographs from that project caught the attention of Eko director Dinjith Ayyathan and writer Bahul Ramesh, who felt her screen presence lingered. After meeting her, they offered her the role that would change her life.
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Eko is a Malayalam-language psychological thriller where dogs play a central role, portrayed as both loyal and aggressive. For Momin, this posed no challenge. A lifelong animal lover, she owns four dogs of different breeds and said she felt completely at ease on set. “I never had any trouble with the dogs,” she recalled.
What resonated most deeply with her was her character, Mlathi, a woman shaped by trauma and loss. With no formal acting training, Momin relied on lived experience. “In my long life, I have experienced all phases - happiness, sadness, everything,” she said, drawing from personal memories to portray emotional complexity.
From a classroom in Tura to the red carpet in Chennai, Biana Momin’s journey has emerged as an unlikely yet inspiring story - one that has expanded the contours of regional cinema and opened new conversations on age, language, and representation in Indian films.
