I am Special is a 2017 English-Manipuri docu-fiction film written and directed by Priyakanta Laishram and produced by Harendra Laishram under the banner Priyakanta Productions. It is the first English-language docu-fiction film made by a Manipuri filmmaker. The film presents six stories centered on disability, combining real-life experiences with fictional narratives. It includes the true stories of the director's late mother, Jibanlata Laishram, who lived with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, and Girish Asotra, a young boy diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, alongside four fictional stories.^[1]

The film had its world premiere in Zagreb on 30 October 2017 during Disability Rights Week. It received the Out of the Box Award at the Symbiosis Allied Media Awards 2017.^[2]

Priyakanta Laishram conceived I am Special following the death of his mother, Jibanlata Laishram, in 2016 after she had lived with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). Produced in 2017, the film was developed as a docu-fiction combining documentary footage with fictional narratives to depict the lives of people with disabilities. Two of its six segments are based on the real-life experiences of Jibanlata Laishram and Girish Asotra, a boy from Chandigarh diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, while the remaining four are fictional.^[3][4]

The film was shot in multiple locations across Imphal, Mumbai, and Chandigarh. It features real individuals alongside actors and combines documentary footage with staged scenes to portray the experiences of people living with different disabilities.^[5]

The film had its world premiere in Zagreb, Croatia, on 30 October 2017 during Disability Rights Week. It later premiered in Imphal on 11 May 2018 and was released digitally on YouTube on 13 June 2018. The film received the Out of the Box Award at the Symbiosis Allied Media Awards 2017.^[2]

In January 2026, I am Special was screened across North India organised with the support of Accessible Services and Disability Affairs.^[5]

• Jibanlata Laishram as herself
• Girish Asotra as himself
• Priyakanta Laishram as himself
• Bhani Khamnam as Bhani
• Ruchika Sahani as Ria
• Tanishka Gujral as Tanishka
• Nirav Purohit as Albert
• Harendra Laishram as Bhani's father
• Terina Ningombam as Bhani's friend

The Sangai Express described the film as "a rare work - quiet, sincere, and deeply humane in its approach to disability and difference", adding that it "stands as a socially significant, quietly powerful work".^[2]

Writing for Imphal Review of Arts and Politics, Sangita Atom stated that the film "observes, without softening reality", and praised its ethical approach to representing disability and its focus on lived experiences rather than sentimentality.^[1]

Poknapham described the film as portraying disability as "a lived condition shaped by social attitudes, access, and everyday experience", and commended its sensitive treatment of the subject.^[3]

Daniel Sagolsem, writing for E-Pao, praised the film for presenting disability through everyday human experiences and for avoiding stereotypical representations.^[6]

Signpost News wrote that I am Special "is not merely a film about disability; it is a film about care, dignity, and humanity", praising its compassionate and understated storytelling.^[4]

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Atom, Sangita (24 January 2026). "Priyakanta Laishram's 'I AM SPECIAL' is a Docu-fiction that Observes, Without Softening Reality". Imphal Review of Arts and Politics. Retrieved 17 July 2026.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} Upadhyay, Ankur Sharma (18 January 2026). "Priyakanta Laishram's I AM SPECIAL (2017) and the ethics of disability representation". The Sangai Express. Retrieved 17 July 2026.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Philem, Baby (21 January 2026). "'I AM SPECIAL'ː The quiet power of seeing disability as life". Poknapham. Retrieved 17 July 2026.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} Angom, Rinku (11 June 2026). "Witnessing Disability, Care, and Humanity in I AM SPECIAL". Signpost News. Retrieved 17 July 2026.
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} "English–Manipuri Docu-Fiction 'I Am Special' to Be Screened Across North India". Ukhrul Times. 16 January 2026. Retrieved 17 July 2026.
6. ↑ Sagolsem, Daniel (16 June 2026). "The Real Subject of Priyakanta Laishram's I AM SPECIAL Is Society". E-Pao. Retrieved 17 July 2026.