NEW DELHI: The Romanian film which won the Palme D‘OR at Cannes 2007 – 4 months, 3 weeks & 2 days – would be the opening film at the International Film Festival of India at Goa on 23 November, and Shah Rukh Khan is the Chief Guest.
The Director of the film Cristian Mungiu and the main actress Anamaria Marinca would be present. Besides, there would be other foreign delegates representing various international film festivals from the Netherlands, China, Poland and Mexico. Major delegations from Poland and China will also be present.
Neelam Kapur, Director of Film Festivals which organizes IFFI on behalf of the Information and Broadcasting ministry in collaboration with Government of Goa, told a news conference that the competition section had been widened to have feature films from Asian, African and Latin America, open to films produced after August 2006. Fourteen films have been selected from 13 countries for the competition.
The Jury is headed by eminent award winning filmmaker from Hungary Marta Mezaros who has directed more than 60 films and has won awards in Cannes, Berlin, Venice and San Sebastian International Film Festivals. Other members of the Jury are Meltem Cumbul who is a young leading actress from Turkey; filmmaker and cinematographer Shaji N Karun, noted Argentinian film director Pablo Cesar, who has won awards in the Montreal International Film Festival and National awards in Argentina, and Robert Sarkies who is a young filmmaker from New Zealand.
I & B Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunsi and Goa Chief Minister Digambar Kamat along with several important film personalities will be present.
Kapur said the Indian Panorama at IFFI – 2007 would present a bouquet of 36 films, 21 features and 15 non-feature films. The package is a mixed bag with stalwarts like Buddhadeb Dasgupta and Adoor Gopalakrishnan presenting two films each. The section would have Ami Iyasin Aar Amaar Madhubala (The Voueurs- Feature) and Naushad Ali- the Melody continues (Non Feature) by Dasgupta and Naalu Penunungal (Four Women- Feature) and The Dance of the Enchantress (Non Feature) by Gopalakrishnan. The debut directors like Sameer Hanchante, Samir Chanda, and Bhavna Talwar would present their films Gafla (Scam), Ek Nadir Galpo (Tale of a river), and Dharm respectively at the festival.
A special section celebrating 60 years of India‘s independence, India @ 60, would showcase seven patriotic films including three feature and four documentaries.
Entertainment Society of Goa Chief Executive Officer Nandini Paliwal said theatre facilities were being significantly upgraded and increased for IFFI 2007. Nine theatres with a total seating capacity of 3026 would be part of the Festival complex as compared to five theatres with seating capacity of 2200 last year. This will considerably ease the pressure on theatres and reduce the queues witnessed last year.
The theatres are Inox Multiplex (4 screens), Kala Academy (2 screens), and Ashok and Samrat (2 screens). Two new screens are being added in Maquinez Palace, which have the capacity to be looped. She also said that a state of the art media centre has been set up in the same compound.
The delegate registration has been made fully online for IFFI-2007 to facilitate easy access to the delegates from all parts of the country and abroad. Nearly 2700 applications have already been approved. These include 1200 from the state of Goa. The last date for applying for delegate registration is 20 November. Registration fee has been fully waived for students of films from approved educational institutions
A system of booking tickets in advance has been introduced to avoid long queues. Tickets, which are free of cost to the delegates, can be booked 3 days in advance. This will help the delegates in choosing the films of their choice and ensure seats in the theatre. Sixteen booths will be provided at the festival premises for booking tickets. There will be real time display on TV screens around the venue to know about the status of availability of seats for each screening.
Shahrukh Khan goes on record to say that in all the years that he has been in the industry a Chak De is by far the best film he did in years. For the hugely talented Tabu who is rarely seen on the big screen, a Namesake comes her way after her last good work in Chandni Bar. In between she did some inane stuff which probably was accepted to keep the home fires burning. 
Saif did superlative work in Omkaara and played a different role of a car racer in Tara rum pum. And not to forget Being Cyrus. But do any of his forthcoming films offer him similar challenges?
Just around the corner is Aamir Khan‘s directorial debut, Taare Zameen Par. The story which revolves around an autistic child will be keenly awaited for both Aamir‘s role as well as the child‘s performance. 
Yet another January 2008 release is Ashutosh Gowariker‘s magnum opus Jodha Akbar. The exigent roles of the lead couple Aishwarya and Hrithik may offer film lovers a great fare. With an impressive repertoire like Raincoat, Mistress of Spices and Chokher Bali, Aishwarya has been fortunate so far. In Jodha Akbar she essays the role of Jodha Bai. In this 16th century love story Hrithik has learnt to ride elephants and worked on his character in great detail.
In Ben Kingsley‘s Taj Mahal, Bipasha Basu plays Aishwarya‘s daughter. Ash plays Mumtaz Mahal and Bipasha will be seen as Jahan Ara. Unfortunately both will not be sharing screen space together as Bipasha comes in after Ash dies in the film. But to see the otherwise sexy Bipasha as a historical character may be worth a dekko.
Amitabh Bachchan in his most recent film, The Last Lear will go down in history for his performance just as for Black but his debacles in films like Jhoom Barabar Jhoom, RGV‘s Aag make critics debate on the logic of such choices. But the one 2008 release to wait for would be Mira Nair‘s Shantaram with Hollywood co-star Johnny Depp. If the film is as engaging as the book, AB has a winner in his hands.
The coming year brings atleast two good films for Preity Zinta. Mera Bharat Mahaan which is directed by Samir Karnik is an adventure film and is slated for a January 2008 release. Though she will be seen in a rather small role, it is a very unusual one and the actress says that it is the power of the punch not the size of the fist that matters. After a powerful performance with Amitabh Bachchan in Rituparno Ghosh‘s The Last Lear, she has now finalized a film with Jhanu Barua. Her role therein too will be one to watch out for.
Even the otherwise lack luster Celina Jaitley‘s career may get a boost with her challenging role in ‘The Quest of Sheherzade‘ in which she plays a mystical warrior princess. In this Hollywood film she has been trained for the role by Nancy Barks who has trained many a Hollywood actor. Celina is required to speak in a German accent and the actress has been doing a lot of homework for this role.
His role in Nishikant Kamath‘s Yeh Hain Mumbai Meri Jaan where he plays a coffee vendor on a railway station has the actor very gung-ho. It required him to do a lot of research on the role as well as work on his physical appearance.
Just as Priyanka Chopra who is very excited about her role as a superwoman in the untitled animation film by Virgin Comics. She has worked very carefully on her look in the film and so has Abhishek Bachchan for his forthcoming film Drona. A Goldie Behl venture this will be keenly awaited as Abhishek is likely to create waves as a superhero in the film. Considering his track record, AB junior is in desperate need of a good role. Priyanka‘s role in the film will be one to watch out for as she plays Abhishek‘s bodyguard. For this challenging role she has trained in the ancient arts of Gatka (a Sikh form of martial art). 
Saif Ali Khan‘s voice over of a dog in Roadside Romeo directed by Jugal Hansraj is sure going to be some film to wait for. 
“To honour renowned Bengali filmmaker, Tapan Sinha, the festival will showcase a special collection of his films,” says Kapur.
Says Promodome group CEO Sandeep Kapur, “Our first film titled Jugaad will go on floors this month. The budget is Rs 60-70 million and it stars Manoj Bajpai, Vijay Raaz, Rohit Roy amongst others.”
“JWM did well because it is a very good film and as there hasn‘t been a decent love story in a long time -only comedies and tragedies (pun intended) like Saawariya,” explains trade analyst Amod Mehra on the reason behind Jab We Met‘s bull run. “The chemistry of the lead couple was very good in the film and both Shahid and Kareena were excellent. I also think the Punjabi flavour of the film worked in its favour,” he surmises.
Mehra explains,” Jab We Met was doing well and had to go out because of the onslaught of Saawariya and OSO. This killed the film. It‘s all to do with the multiplex culture. Now as an apology they have brought it back. As people are still keen on seeing it this decision will help the film.”