Category: Hindi

MUMBAI: Yesteryear actress Waheeda Rehman will inaugurate the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) that begins 10 December at Thiruvananthapuram. Kerala Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan will also be present on the occasion.

IFFK Chairman and the festival director K.R. Mohanan told reporters that the actress will be the chief guest for the festival, while renowned German filmmaker Werner Herzog would be the guest of honour. 

‘The eight-day long festival, organised by Kerala State Chalachithra Academy (KSCA), will have as many as 14 films from Asia, Africa and Latin America that will compete for the top awards. The best film will be presented with the Suvarna Chakoram award and a cash prize of Rs 1.5 million.

Rajata Chakoram and a cash prize of Rs 400,000 will go to the best director and a Rajata Chakoram and Rs 300,000 will go to the best debut filmmaker. In addition to this, a Rajata Chakoram and Rs 200,000 would be awarded as the audience prize.

Mohanan further said that the festival will screen a retrospective of filmmaker Rainer Fassbinder, while T.V. Chandran will be the Malayalam filmmaker in focus along with other films from Central Asia and those made by Black American filmmakers.

This year‘s Oscar winners A.R. Rehman, Resul Pookutty and Gulzar will be honoured at the fest.
 

NEW DELHI: Festival director SM Khan said the 41st International Film Festival of India had created a new watermark with as many as 8,500 delegates from India and overseas.

Khan said this is almost 2000 more than last year. In addition, around 400 mediapersons had registered for the Festival.

While the Festival had implemented some of the short-term recommendations of the Expert Committee on IFFI headed by Pritish Nandy, he said long-term recommendations were still under study with the Information and Broadcasting Ministry. These included adoption of a private public partnership mode for organising the Festival through a new Society to be formed for this purpose, and acceptance of sponsorships.

Khan announced that a new Convention Centre and larger theatre would be ready in Panaji for the film festival by 2014.

In a mid-fest press meet, Joint Director Shankar Mohan said the aim of selection had been to bring to India filmmakers who had not been seen too frequently in this country. But creative art is about individual perception, he said, while responding to certain criticisms about choice of films.
 

MUMBAI: Having premiered at the Pusan International Film Festival and later screened at the MIAAC Film Festival and MAMI Film Festival, Sanjoy Nag’s Memories In March (MIM) has now been selected to be screened at the Chennai International Film Festival‘s Indian Panorama Section. The Festival will be held from 15 to 23 December.

Says Nag, “While discussing MIM with Mani Ratnam at a dinner in New York during the MIAAC Film Festival, he suggested that the film should be screened at the Chennai Film Festival. He suggested that I get in touch with his wife who is actively involved with the Festival. After coming back to Kolkata, I got in touch with her and everything was settled.”

Memories of March, made simultaneously in Hindi and English, tells the story of a bereaved mother Arati Mishra (Deepti Naval), who comes to Kolkata to collect her son’s ashes and belongings after his death. On meeting his friends and colleagues, she is amazed to see that their perspective about her son is so different and discovers a new side of him that she never knew as a mother.

The film was supposed to be solely in Bengali, but just before it went on floors it was changed to Hindi and English as there was no time for Deepti to learn Bengali.

“I came in the last minute, so there was very little time for the shoot to begin and I needed a couple of days to start learning Bengali. When I landed, there was no time left to learn Bengali, so Ritu said it’s easier for all to speak Hindi rather than teach me Bengali,” divulges Naval.

Asked about her experience of working with Rituparno Ghosh as an actor, she said: “We thought he will be trying to direct us, but it was a pleasant surprise that he stuck to his role of acting in the film. He is a wonderful actor.”
 

MUMBAI: A retrospective of the works of renowned Indo-American filmmaker Mira Nair has been planned in the ‘ Retrospective Section’ of the ongoing IFFI on 30 November in the presence of the filmmaker who is expected to arrive on that day.

On the occasion, Nair will be present along with some of the cast and crew members of her debut film Salaam Bombay.

 Amongst her films that will be screened are Salaam Bombay, Mississippi Masala, The Perez Family, Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love, Monsoon Wedding, Vanity Fair, The Namesake and Amelia.

Eight of her short films/documentaries – 9/11, Hysterical Blindness, Migration – Aids Jaago, So Far From India, India Cabret, The Day the Mercedes Became a Hat, Laughing Club of India and How can it – will also be screened.

PANAJI: The 41st International Film Festival of India, which commenced here on 22 November, is unique in various respects.

The eminent director and ten-time National Award winner Rituparno Ghosh is, perhaps, the only person who does not have a retrospective on him but is being featured in as many as three films – one as an actor.

While his directorial ventrure Abohoman which has already won national awards is in the Indian Panorama, Noukadubi based on a story by Rabindranath Tagore and produced by Subhash Ghai has been premiered here.

The third film, Just Another Love Story, stars Ghosh as a homosexual director making a film on a very renowned Bengali theatre actor who always acted in female roles
 

PANAJI: Odisha Information and Public Relations Minister Prafulla Samal said today that 314 mini theatres will be built at every block in the state over the next few years.

Samal said there were only 81 cinema halls in the state and many films do not get an opportunity to exhibit. He appealed to the Central Government, banks and NFDC to come forward to help the film industry in Odisha.

He said the Platinum jubilee celebrations of Odiya films will be celebrated in the State in a big way in 2011 as part of the Platinum jubilee celebrations of creation of the state, hitherto known as Orissa. Odisha has produced around 600 films so far.

The Minister also invited filmmakers to come and shoot their films at the beautiful locales of Odisha such as Puri, Konark, Bhubaneswar and Gopalpur.

Listening to various suggestions, he expressed the hope that the state government may announce some incentives in the next financial year. He assured the film industry that the state government will help promote Odiya cinema in the state. He said measures for the welfare of film workers and artists should be taken.

PANAJI: After a gap of 58 years, an Indian film will be released simultaneously on both sides of the border when it comes to the screen in West Bengal and Bangladesh next week.

Goutam Ghose’s film ‘Moner Manush’ (The Quest), which is a part of the competition at the ongoing IFFI, is an Indo-Bangladesh co-production and will be released on 3 December with more than 110 prints in both the countries.

Ghose said he was excited about the project as it has its cast and crew from both the sides of the border. “With the help of cinema we can help to bridge the gap between the people of both the countries. The love and compassion of Lalan is relevant more than ever in today’s world of intolerance and hate,” he added.

The lead actor Priyanshu Chatterjee who plays Jyotirindranath Tagore, said he was delighted to work with Ghose on the project “as the whole package was attractive and challenging”.

Talking about the music, Ghose said the music is integral to the film and is also part of the script, since Lalan communicated through verse.

The exchange of views between Rabindranath Tagore’s elder brother Jyotirindranath Tagore, an urban intellectual, and the octogenarian Lalan faqir – a man of native wisdom – forms the cinematic narrative of the film.

It is a saga of the life and times of Lalan Faqir and his liberal sect who lived a life of high order in an otherwise superstitious 19th century Indian society and developed an extremely secular and tolerant philosophy based on the best of the liberal and enlightened tradition of Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam. And, thus, became an easy prey for the Hindu and Muslim fundamentalists.

Based on a novel by Sunil Gangopadhyay, the cast of the film includes Prosenjit Chatterjee, Raisul Islam Asad, Chanchal Chowdhury, Priyanshu Chatterjee, Syed Hasan Imam, Gulshan Ara Champa, Paoli Dam and Shubhra.

PANAJI: In the Golden Jubilee year of the FTII, five films by its former students, now eminent names to reckon with, are being featured in the Special Section.

The films are: 37 Down Manmad Passenger directed by Kumar Shahani; Awashesh directed by Girish Kasarvalli; Bodhvriksha directed by Rajan Khosa; Jee Karta Tha directed by Hansa Thapliyal; and Kramashad directed by Amit Dutta.

The institute that boasts of the who’s who and some of the best filmmakers that the country has produced, is featuring as many as 20 films made by its students in the Festival this year.

These have been included under various sections such as Indian Panorama, Special Section and Student Film Package – Film School and New Risk Takers.

While three student films, Motorbike (directed by Radhika Murthy), Surang (directed by Anurag Goswami) and Shyam Raat Seher (directed by Arunima Sharma) have been selected for the Indian Panorama, the New Risk Takers Package has 12 films.
 

PANAJI: The fourth edition of Film Bazaar India 2010 at the International Film Festival of India concluded on a positive note for greater cooperation in cinema among Saarc countries.

National Film Development Corporation managing director Nina Lath Gupta said all Saarc countries except Maldives were represented. She said that discussions had been fruitful but it was too early to say which countries would enter into collaborations with NFDC.

The annual film market was designed to address the current needs of filmmakers and focused on creating business opportunities for production studios and independent producers/film makers. The idea behind Film Bazaar was to provide a proficient stage for prospective buyers and sellers of film rights from India and abroad. The four-day Film Bazaar India had commenced on 23 November at Goa Marriott Resort.

For the first time this year, the Film Bazaar organised industry screenings for filmmakers to showcase their films to potential producers, distributors, agents, buyers and representatives of international film festivals.

Another first was the introduction of digital screening facilities. The state-of-the-art screening facility had multiple screens of 12-seater theatres and Digital and 3D compatible projection. This helped the international buyers to make informed and quick decisions on the various projects they are interested in, she said. The theatres had been set-up in collaboration with UFO Moviez.

She said that for the first time, private exhibitors were permitted to set up stalls and there were around 17 stalls.

The Film Bazaar had grown and gained wide popularity since its inception in 2007 and the number of delegates exceeded last year’s 350 delegates from 22 countries..

NFDC had invited projects from Saarc countries this year to present a window for filmmakers from these countries to various buyers and sellers from all around the world.

The other highlights at the Bazaar this time included Masterclass with acclaimed Turkish – German filmmaker Fatih Akin and also a Screenwriters Lab where a two-part screenwriters’ workshop for writing and selling original Indian screenplays was held. The Co-production Market offered selected filmmakers the opportunity to present their feature film projects to co-producers, bankers, sales agents, and other potential financiers from India and abroad. The Prime Exchange initiated market exchange between India and Europe in the field of Film and TV Production. The Bazaar saw Work in Progress Lab was held for feature films at a rough cut stage. In the Knowledge Series, NFDC presented case studies and presentations by industry experts. Leading Indian and international producers, distributors, buyers attending this year’s Film Bazaar include prominent international buyers and sales agents such as Farabi Foundation (Iran), Cinetic Rights Management (USA), Fortissimo Films (UK), The Yellow Affair (Finland), Rapid Eye Movies (Germany), Wide Management (France), Railto, (Netherland), Hanway Films (UK) and Wild Bunch (France).

Festival directors and representatives from the leading international film festivals like Cannes Film Festival, Venice Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival, Locarno Film Festival, Durban International Film Festival, Chicago International Film Festival and Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles interacted with the attendees of Film Bazaar.