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Tag: Naseeruddin Shah

  • The Epic channel bags six metals at Promax India Awards

    The Epic channel bags six metals at Promax India Awards

    Mumbai: On May 12 Promax India Awards honored The EPIC Channel with six awards. The channel won four Gold and two Silver awards.

    Of the four Gold awards, the ‘EPIC At 10’ promotion won two of these awards for the Best Integrated Marketing Campaign (Out-Of-House) and the Best Launch Campaign (Out-Of-House).  The show ‘Raja, Rasoi Aur Anya Kahaniyaan’ was awarded with the Best Promo Using Only Programming Footage. While the program, ‘Khwaabon Ka Safar’ won a gold for the Best Innovative Use of Digital.

    One silver was awarded for the Best Sound Editing for the acclaimed show, Raja, Rasoi Aur Anya Kahaniyaan while the other silver was given to Khwaabon Ka Safar for the Best Co-Branded Promotion with Philips.

    The Epic AT 10 campaign won the awards for sheer originality in content and creativity. It was conceptualized by Grey Worldwide who innovatively used Bollywood stalwarts including Anurag Basu, Javed Akhtar and Naseeruddin Shah to launch the three shows, Stories by Rabindranath Tagore, Jaane Pehchaane With Jaaved Akhtar and Mid-Wicket Tales With Naseeruddin Shah.

     

  • The Epic channel bags six metals at Promax India Awards

    The Epic channel bags six metals at Promax India Awards

    Mumbai: On May 12 Promax India Awards honored The EPIC Channel with six awards. The channel won four Gold and two Silver awards.

    Of the four Gold awards, the ‘EPIC At 10’ promotion won two of these awards for the Best Integrated Marketing Campaign (Out-Of-House) and the Best Launch Campaign (Out-Of-House).  The show ‘Raja, Rasoi Aur Anya Kahaniyaan’ was awarded with the Best Promo Using Only Programming Footage. While the program, ‘Khwaabon Ka Safar’ won a gold for the Best Innovative Use of Digital.

    One silver was awarded for the Best Sound Editing for the acclaimed show, Raja, Rasoi Aur Anya Kahaniyaan while the other silver was given to Khwaabon Ka Safar for the Best Co-Branded Promotion with Philips.

    The Epic AT 10 campaign won the awards for sheer originality in content and creativity. It was conceptualized by Grey Worldwide who innovatively used Bollywood stalwarts including Anurag Basu, Javed Akhtar and Naseeruddin Shah to launch the three shows, Stories by Rabindranath Tagore, Jaane Pehchaane With Jaaved Akhtar and Mid-Wicket Tales With Naseeruddin Shah.

     

  • Five regional centres of India’s premier drama school to open in other parts of country

    Five regional centres of India’s premier drama school to open in other parts of country

    NEW DELHI: The Delhi-based National School of Drama, which has formed the training ground for some of the best television and film personalities, is to get five regional centres in different parts of the country, Parliament has been told.

    This follows the recommendations made by the Broad Based Committee for opening up of five regional centres across the country.

    The NSD Society proposes to establish one regional centre each at Kolkata, Mumbai/Goa, Jammu and Kashmir, and the North-East besides upgrading the existing Regional Resource Centre (RRC) at Bengaluru to become a full-fledged regional centre.

    Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma said these regional centres are to be established in consultation with the concerned State Governments who were required to provide accommodation for the purpose.

    So far, only Karnataka has allotted land for the purpose at Bengaluru. NSD has started one year teaching training programme in the Bengaluru Chapter commencing from academic session 2014-15.

    In addition, under consolidation of Out-reach Programme in the North-East Region, NSD has opened its Centres in Sikkim and Tripura. 

    Several actors like Om Puri, Naseeruddin Shah, Shabana Azmi, Nadira Babbar, Kulbhushan Kharbanda and others and filmmakers like M S Sathyu have made major contributions to the NSD, many of them beginning their careers here.

  • Five regional centres of India’s premier drama school to open in other parts of country

    Five regional centres of India’s premier drama school to open in other parts of country

    NEW DELHI: The Delhi-based National School of Drama, which has formed the training ground for some of the best television and film personalities, is to get five regional centres in different parts of the country, Parliament has been told.

    This follows the recommendations made by the Broad Based Committee for opening up of five regional centres across the country.

    The NSD Society proposes to establish one regional centre each at Kolkata, Mumbai/Goa, Jammu and Kashmir, and the North-East besides upgrading the existing Regional Resource Centre (RRC) at Bengaluru to become a full-fledged regional centre.

    Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma said these regional centres are to be established in consultation with the concerned State Governments who were required to provide accommodation for the purpose.

    So far, only Karnataka has allotted land for the purpose at Bengaluru. NSD has started one year teaching training programme in the Bengaluru Chapter commencing from academic session 2014-15.

    In addition, under consolidation of Out-reach Programme in the North-East Region, NSD has opened its Centres in Sikkim and Tripura. 

    Several actors like Om Puri, Naseeruddin Shah, Shabana Azmi, Nadira Babbar, Kulbhushan Kharbanda and others and filmmakers like M S Sathyu have made major contributions to the NSD, many of them beginning their careers here.

  • Teraa Surroor- One man show

    Teraa Surroor- One man show

    Himesh Reshammiya counts mostly on his musical score to make his films and attract audience. His latest, Teraa Surroor, is described as a ‘Lethal love story’, Earlier titled Guns N Roses, the film is a sequel of his 2007 movie, AapKaaSurroor.

    In the earlier film, AapKaaSurroor, Himesh, a singer, is framed for a murder and jailed in Germany where he is for a music concert. If he does not prove his innocence in a day’s time, he loses his lady love. The only way he can do that is by breaking out of jail and finding the real culprit.

    This time, in Teraa Surroor, Himesh changes roles. His girlfriend, Farah Karimaee, is arrested in Ireland and it is up to Himesh to prove her innocence.

    Himesh is out partying and lures a dancer at the club to bed. Next, he walks into a hotel suite and shoots down a few drug dealers. Soon, like a good boy, he goes home and confesses to his girlfriend who he is slated to marry in a month’s time that he has strayed, that he slept with another woman!

    Farah sulks and does not want to have anything to do with Himesh. Despite her wedding being a month away, she decides to go on a singing assignment to Ireland to celebrate India Day on an invitation by a Facebook friend! Farah’s mother, Shernaz Patel, is fond of Himesh and wants the duo to talk over things and end their differences. But, Farah wants a break and proceeds to Ireland.

    When Farah lands in Ireland, she is asked to proceed to the hotel by her Facebook friend as he could not reach the airport to receive her. While she is on her way, her cab is surrounded by cops. She is found to be carrying contraband drugs. Arrested, she is tried and promptly sentenced to jail. When asked if she would like to inform anybody back home, she asks Himesh be informed. She also learns the hard way that the host country does not celebrate anything like India Day!

    Himesh is on mission now. He has to get his fiancée out of jail and find the culprit who planted the drugs on her. Farah’s lawyer, Monica Dogra, informs him that there is no way she can come out without completing her term. The only way to bring her out seems to be jailbreak. There are experts on just about everything and Himesh finds the expert on jailbreaks, Naseeruddin Shah, who has fled from various jails as many as 14 times!

    Meanwhile, Kabir Bedi, the police chief here, and Shekhar Kapur, the Indian Ambassador in Ireland, both old chums, are busy doing their bit.

    Shah makes up a plan to spring Farah out of jail and Himesh follows it to the T; Farah is out and the entire Irish police force is after them. Both make it safely to a port from where they would be helped to reach India. But, Himesh has a job to complete. He asks Farah to wait for him and returns to settle scores with the man who framed Farah.

    Teraa Surroor suffers from a patchy script. There are so many glitches and contradictions which are jarring. The director, Shawn Arrahna, concentrates more on scenic visuals and finesse rather than flaws in the content. Though he manages to keep the first part taut, the film meanders post interval. Not to deny that the attention to locations makes the film a visual delight. Though some of the songs are rehashed by Himesh from his earlier film, all six songs in the film are tuneful.

    Himesh has grown a six-pack and muscles and even bares given an opportunity. Otherwise, he carries a single look throughout. Guns speak louder than muscles in this film. Farah’s role is limited mainly to looking forlorn in a jail cell when not appearing in flashbacks in songs. Shekhar, Shah and Bedi just add some face value to the roaster, their roles being limited.

    Teraa Surroor has not had an expected opening response and its hope lies on the weekend.

    Producers: T Series, HR Musik.

    Director: Shawn Arranha.

    Cast: Himesh Reshammiya, Farah Karimaee, Shekhar Kapur, Naseeruddin Shah, Kabir Bedi, Monica Dogra, Shernaz Patel.

    Global Baba…One more baba!

    As the media started exposing the misdeeds of various babas with huge following, they found a new breed of followers, the filmmakers. The reason being, the exploits of these babas offer a filmmaker a fair bit of scope for comedies.

    Abhimnayu Singh is a sharpshooter killing his targets at whim. He is the henchman of a local woman politician because of which no cop dare to touch him. Now, police, led by Ravi Kishan, has arrested Singh. Kishan is leading him towards deep woods on the pretext of wanting a leak. The purpose is to kill him and make it look like an encounter. Singh knows he is trapped and, as a sort of last wish, wants to know who dared order his kill. He learns that his death has been ordered by the same woman politician he did all the dirty work for.

    Singh uses the same ploy of wanting to relieve himself and, in the process, tries to escape. But, the full police force is after him and he is shot in the back by Kishan. Singh falls into a rapid and assumed dead by the police. But, in Hindi films, whoever is shot and falls in to a river or sea, never dies.

    Singh emerges on the other side of the river where some aghori baba removes a bullet from his back with his bare hands. He was seemingly shot thrice but removing one bullet somehow brings him back to life. He has surfaced in some holy town on the banks of a holy river.

    On the run, Singh comes across one of his own taporis, PankajTripathi, who now poses as a maunee baba. He chose to be so because he had a problem with his speech. Tripathi sells a grand plan to Singh and that is to turn into a baba. There are all kind of babas so standing across a shop, Global Hair Cutting Saloon, the name is decided. Singh will become Global Baba with a feigned global following.

    Soon enough, GB has earned name, fame and an unprecedented following. You don’t see any global followers but the politicians of all hue and cry line up at his ashram, built on a grabbed land. Baba has become all powerful, blackmails politicians and even swings arms deals. Politicians seek his favours because he can create a communal riot on whim, can turn public opinion against any politician.

    No baba vs. politicians film is complete without a media person involved, better still if the person happens to be a female. So there is Sandeepa Dhar, a TV reporter working for the channel owned by home minister, Akhilendra Mishra, who plants her at the Singh’s ashram. Finally, Kishan realizes that Singh survived the bullets and has become Global Baba now.

    Just about everything in this film is routine, oft seen in this kind of films which springs up time and again. Here, what keeps the film alive to an extent is the thrill angle. Sadly, that interest factor is killed in the climax when the makers decide to keep the end open. May be it is an ambition of a sequel or make an intellectual point, this is lame. No justice for the villain, no dhishoomdhishoom; you know the villain so now go home. But, villain is known to the viewer from frame one!

    There is not much to say about technical aspects of the film. However, there are a few performances worth a mention. Of the cast, Tripathi excels. Singh manages to look appropriately sinister. Tripathi is very good. Kishan has little scope. Sandeepa is fair. Sanjay Mishra is wasted.

    Global Baba lacks face value to attract the audience.

    Producers: Vijay Bansal, Priya Bansal.

    Director: ManojSidheshwari Tiwari.

    Cast: Abhimanyu Singh, PankajTripathi, Ravi Kishan, SandeepaDhar, Akhilendra Mishra, Sanjay Mishra. 

  • Teraa Surroor- One man show

    Teraa Surroor- One man show

    Himesh Reshammiya counts mostly on his musical score to make his films and attract audience. His latest, Teraa Surroor, is described as a ‘Lethal love story’, Earlier titled Guns N Roses, the film is a sequel of his 2007 movie, AapKaaSurroor.

    In the earlier film, AapKaaSurroor, Himesh, a singer, is framed for a murder and jailed in Germany where he is for a music concert. If he does not prove his innocence in a day’s time, he loses his lady love. The only way he can do that is by breaking out of jail and finding the real culprit.

    This time, in Teraa Surroor, Himesh changes roles. His girlfriend, Farah Karimaee, is arrested in Ireland and it is up to Himesh to prove her innocence.

    Himesh is out partying and lures a dancer at the club to bed. Next, he walks into a hotel suite and shoots down a few drug dealers. Soon, like a good boy, he goes home and confesses to his girlfriend who he is slated to marry in a month’s time that he has strayed, that he slept with another woman!

    Farah sulks and does not want to have anything to do with Himesh. Despite her wedding being a month away, she decides to go on a singing assignment to Ireland to celebrate India Day on an invitation by a Facebook friend! Farah’s mother, Shernaz Patel, is fond of Himesh and wants the duo to talk over things and end their differences. But, Farah wants a break and proceeds to Ireland.

    When Farah lands in Ireland, she is asked to proceed to the hotel by her Facebook friend as he could not reach the airport to receive her. While she is on her way, her cab is surrounded by cops. She is found to be carrying contraband drugs. Arrested, she is tried and promptly sentenced to jail. When asked if she would like to inform anybody back home, she asks Himesh be informed. She also learns the hard way that the host country does not celebrate anything like India Day!

    Himesh is on mission now. He has to get his fiancée out of jail and find the culprit who planted the drugs on her. Farah’s lawyer, Monica Dogra, informs him that there is no way she can come out without completing her term. The only way to bring her out seems to be jailbreak. There are experts on just about everything and Himesh finds the expert on jailbreaks, Naseeruddin Shah, who has fled from various jails as many as 14 times!

    Meanwhile, Kabir Bedi, the police chief here, and Shekhar Kapur, the Indian Ambassador in Ireland, both old chums, are busy doing their bit.

    Shah makes up a plan to spring Farah out of jail and Himesh follows it to the T; Farah is out and the entire Irish police force is after them. Both make it safely to a port from where they would be helped to reach India. But, Himesh has a job to complete. He asks Farah to wait for him and returns to settle scores with the man who framed Farah.

    Teraa Surroor suffers from a patchy script. There are so many glitches and contradictions which are jarring. The director, Shawn Arrahna, concentrates more on scenic visuals and finesse rather than flaws in the content. Though he manages to keep the first part taut, the film meanders post interval. Not to deny that the attention to locations makes the film a visual delight. Though some of the songs are rehashed by Himesh from his earlier film, all six songs in the film are tuneful.

    Himesh has grown a six-pack and muscles and even bares given an opportunity. Otherwise, he carries a single look throughout. Guns speak louder than muscles in this film. Farah’s role is limited mainly to looking forlorn in a jail cell when not appearing in flashbacks in songs. Shekhar, Shah and Bedi just add some face value to the roaster, their roles being limited.

    Teraa Surroor has not had an expected opening response and its hope lies on the weekend.

    Producers: T Series, HR Musik.

    Director: Shawn Arranha.

    Cast: Himesh Reshammiya, Farah Karimaee, Shekhar Kapur, Naseeruddin Shah, Kabir Bedi, Monica Dogra, Shernaz Patel.

    Global Baba…One more baba!

    As the media started exposing the misdeeds of various babas with huge following, they found a new breed of followers, the filmmakers. The reason being, the exploits of these babas offer a filmmaker a fair bit of scope for comedies.

    Abhimnayu Singh is a sharpshooter killing his targets at whim. He is the henchman of a local woman politician because of which no cop dare to touch him. Now, police, led by Ravi Kishan, has arrested Singh. Kishan is leading him towards deep woods on the pretext of wanting a leak. The purpose is to kill him and make it look like an encounter. Singh knows he is trapped and, as a sort of last wish, wants to know who dared order his kill. He learns that his death has been ordered by the same woman politician he did all the dirty work for.

    Singh uses the same ploy of wanting to relieve himself and, in the process, tries to escape. But, the full police force is after him and he is shot in the back by Kishan. Singh falls into a rapid and assumed dead by the police. But, in Hindi films, whoever is shot and falls in to a river or sea, never dies.

    Singh emerges on the other side of the river where some aghori baba removes a bullet from his back with his bare hands. He was seemingly shot thrice but removing one bullet somehow brings him back to life. He has surfaced in some holy town on the banks of a holy river.

    On the run, Singh comes across one of his own taporis, PankajTripathi, who now poses as a maunee baba. He chose to be so because he had a problem with his speech. Tripathi sells a grand plan to Singh and that is to turn into a baba. There are all kind of babas so standing across a shop, Global Hair Cutting Saloon, the name is decided. Singh will become Global Baba with a feigned global following.

    Soon enough, GB has earned name, fame and an unprecedented following. You don’t see any global followers but the politicians of all hue and cry line up at his ashram, built on a grabbed land. Baba has become all powerful, blackmails politicians and even swings arms deals. Politicians seek his favours because he can create a communal riot on whim, can turn public opinion against any politician.

    No baba vs. politicians film is complete without a media person involved, better still if the person happens to be a female. So there is Sandeepa Dhar, a TV reporter working for the channel owned by home minister, Akhilendra Mishra, who plants her at the Singh’s ashram. Finally, Kishan realizes that Singh survived the bullets and has become Global Baba now.

    Just about everything in this film is routine, oft seen in this kind of films which springs up time and again. Here, what keeps the film alive to an extent is the thrill angle. Sadly, that interest factor is killed in the climax when the makers decide to keep the end open. May be it is an ambition of a sequel or make an intellectual point, this is lame. No justice for the villain, no dhishoomdhishoom; you know the villain so now go home. But, villain is known to the viewer from frame one!

    There is not much to say about technical aspects of the film. However, there are a few performances worth a mention. Of the cast, Tripathi excels. Singh manages to look appropriately sinister. Tripathi is very good. Kishan has little scope. Sandeepa is fair. Sanjay Mishra is wasted.

    Global Baba lacks face value to attract the audience.

    Producers: Vijay Bansal, Priya Bansal.

    Director: ManojSidheshwari Tiwari.

    Cast: Abhimanyu Singh, PankajTripathi, Ravi Kishan, SandeepaDhar, Akhilendra Mishra, Sanjay Mishra. 

  • Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) announces Galas and a stellar line-up

    Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) announces Galas and a stellar line-up

    MUMBAI:  The 14 edition of the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) held at ArcLight, Hollywood in Los Angeles, California from 6 to 10 April, 2016, announced its eclectic line-up of 27 films (16 features and 11 shorts) to be screened this year.

    The festival is widely recognized as the premiere showcase of ground breaking Indian cinema globally.

    Opening the festival on April 6 is the U.S. premiere of the powerful Angry Indian Goddesses, from filmmaker and four-time IFFLA alum Pan Nalin. Anu Menon’s poignant Waiting, starring Naseeruddin Shah and Kalki Koechlin, closes the festival with its North American premiere on April 10. Gala tickets and passes are now available at http://www.indianfilmfestival.org/.

    Three films will have their world premiere at the five-day film festival namely, CRD by Kranti Kanade, Babu’s Dilemma by Collin D’Cunha, and Anurag Kashyap produced Mochi (The Cobbler) by Saqib Pandor. In addition, there will be two North American premieres, and ten U.S. premieres.
    More features and shorts from female filmmakers will be presented this year by IFFLA than ever before, including: Deepa Mehta’s gangster drama Beeba Boys; Leena Yadav’s Parched, a piercing examination of India’s patriarchal culture through the stories of four women; Ruchika Oberoi’s genre-bending triptych, Island City; and Rinku Kalsy’s documentary For the Love of a Man, about the fierce devotion shared by South-Indian superstar Rajinikanth’s fans; and in the shorts program, Payal Sethi’s Leeches, Megha Ramaswamy’s Bunny, Pritha Chakraborthy’s Ashrut (Silent Voices) and Sonejuhi Sinha’sLove Comes Later, among others.

    The festival also features two LGBT titles, Hansal Mehta’s politically-charged Aligarh and the short Daaravtha (The Threshold) by Nishant Roy Bombarde, which are bold and compelling statements from filmmakers.

    Tamil cinema has recently emerged as a force on the world stage, and this is exemplified in the two fascinating? Tamil features in the program: Visaaranai (Interrogation) and Kirumi (Virus).

    Highlights in the shorts program include the world premiere of Mochi (The Cobbler), an impressive directorial debut from Saqib Pandor, produced by Anurag Kashyap, and the North American premiere of Anuj Gulati’s The Manliest Man, a boldly told, absurdist tale that reveals a visionary emerging director.

    Attending the festival this year to present their films will be a host of celebrated filmmakers, including Bhaskar Hazarika (Kothanodi), KrantiKanade (CRD), Hansal Mehta (Aligarh), Prashant Nair & Swati Shetty (Umrika), Pan Nalin(Angry Indian Goddesses),Ruchika Oberoi (Island City), Q (Brahman Naman) and Leena Yadav (Parched).
    IFFLA will also host stars from a number of films, including Kalki Koechlin (Waiting) and many of the actors featured in Angry Indian Goddesses.

    Talking about the impressive line-up, Christina Marouda, Founder of IFFLA said, “India’s independent filmmakers are taking bold risks, defying convention, and responding to injustice in each of these visionary films, and the results are breathtaking.” Mike Dougherty, the Director of Programming adds, “I’m extremely excited for our Los Angeles audience to experience these films, which have garnered raves from around the world, or are making their world premieres with us.”

    Complete Line-up

    OPENING NIGHT GALA

    ANGRY INDIAN GODDESSES
    India/2015/115min/DCP/Hindi and English
    U.S. Premiere
    Director: Pan Nalin

    Logline: When an eclectic group of women gathers to celebrate the impending nuptials of a close mutual friend, sparks fly as they each discover the power – and the fury – of the angry goddesses that lie within.  

    CLOSING NIGHT GALA

    WAITING
    India/2015/92min/DCP/Hindi and English
    North American Premiere
    Director: Anu Menon

    Logline: While their spouses lie in comas, two strangers develop a deep connection in the hospital to help support each other through the trials of waiting and grief.

    FEATURES

    •ALIGARH
    India/2015/114min/DCP/Hindi
    Los Angeles Premiere
    Director: Hansal Mehta
    Logline: The true story of Dr. ShrinivasRamchandraSiras, a linguistics professor at Aligarh Muslim University whose outing and threatened termination caused an uproar.

    •BEEBA BOYS
    Canada/2015/103min/DCP/Punjabi and English
    Los Angeles Premiere
    Director: Deepa Mehta (IFFLA alum)
    Logline: A ruthless and charismatic Sikh Canadian gangster leads his crew into war for drugs, money and respect.

    •BRAHMAN NAMAN
    UK/2015/90min/DCP/English
    Los Angeles Premiere
    Director: Q
    Logline:  A team of misfits at Bangalore University makes an alcohol-fueled cross-country journey to the National Quiz Championships, determined to defeat their archrivals and lose their virginities.

    This year’s Sundance Film Festival heard non-stop buzz about director Q’s latest brazen cinematic provocation: a 1980s-set coming-of-age sex comedy. There’s much more on this film’s mind than young lust and sexual hijinks…but it does have plenty of that to spare!

    •CRD
    India/2016/108min/DCP/Hindi and English
    World Premiere
    Director: Kranti Kanade (IFFLA alum)
    Logline:  As aspiring writer Chetan prepares to compete in a prestigious college theater festival, he explores his creative impulses in radical, hilarious and destructive ways.

    •FOR THE LOVE OF A MAN
    India/2015/82min/DCP/Tamil and English
    U.S. Premiere
    Director: Rinku Kalsy
    Logline: An entertaining and unforgettable look at the godlike devotion by millions of fans for South-Indian super-star Rajinikanth.

    •ISLAND CITY
    India/2015/111min/DCP/Hindi
    U.S. Premiere
    Director: Ruchika Oberoi
    Logline: Three stories set in the sprawling city of Mumbai reveal the absurd, bittersweet and heartbreaking ways three characters attempt to push back against society’s plans for them.

    Oberoi brilliantly plays with genre as her film effortlessly shifts from absurdist comedy to escapist fantasy to realist drama (there’s even a tinge of science fiction). Though each character’s journey is markedly different, their goals are similar: to push back against the demands forced on them without any regard for their personal desires. Oberoi’s unique vision won the Best Young Director Award of the Venice Days section at the 2015 Venice Film Festival.

    •KIRUMI (Virus)
    India/2015/99min/DCP/Tamil
    U.S. Premiere
    Director: Anucharan Murugaiyan
    Logline:  An irresponsible young man finds work as a police informant, but his careless tactics soon anger some of Chennai’s most dangerous criminals, and put him and his loved ones in jeopardy.

    First-time director Anucharan Murugaiyan delivers a riveting, white-knuckle thriller from a script co-written with rising star and Tamil filmmaker M. Manikandan (director of 2015 IFFLA Audience Award winner THE CROW’S EGG). Their collaboration is a fine example of Tamil cinema’s recent emergence as a force on the world stage, and a superb elevation of the crime genre into a stylish, sophisticated look at corruption from the inside.

    •KOTHANODI (The River of Fables)
    India/2015/117min/DCP/Assamese
    U.S. Premiere
    Director: Bhaskar Hazarika
    Logline:  A darker side to motherhood is revealed in these Assamese folktales about four women’s strange and unsettling relationships with their children.

    •MASAAN (Fly Away Solo)
    India, France/2015/109min/DCP/Hindi
    Director: Neeraj Ghaywan (IFFLA alum)
    Logline:  Four very different lives intersect along the Ganges, each longing to escape the moral constructs of a small town.

    In the past year, IFFLA alum Neeraj Ghaywan’s debut feature has become one of the most celebrated independent Indian films in recent memory. Its premiere in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard section saw the film win the prestigious FIPRESCI prize, and the section’s jury honored Ghaywan with the Promising Future Award. The film’s release in India garnered rave reviews and is poised to make stars of its talented young cast, including Vicky Kaushal, Richa Chadha and Shweta Tripathi.

    •OTTAAL (The Trap)
    India/2014/81min/DCP/Malayalam
    U.S. Premiere
    Director:  Jayaraj Rajasekharan Nair
    Logline: When an orphan’s kind grandfather falls ill, the young boy is confronted with the bleak fate of millions of children worldwide.

    Winner of the Crystal Bear in the Generation Kplus section of the 2016 Berlin International Film Festival, OTTAAL is directed with patient mastery by director Jayaraj Rajasekharan Nair, and anchored by a heartbreaking performance from its young lead, Ashanth K. Sha.

    •PARCHED
    India/UK/USA/2015/117min/DCP/Hindi
    Los Angeles Premiere
    Director: Leena Yadav
    Logline: Four small-town women struggling with mistreatment and misogyny find surprising ways to take control of their lives.

    Leena Yadav’s drama premiered at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival, and went on to play the Stockholm International Film Festival, where it won the festival’s Impact Award. With vivid, lived-in performances and a script by Yadav that never simplifies what is a complex reality for many Indian women, PARCHED spotlights a harsh patriarchal culture and the women and girls who remain steadfast within it.

    •UMRIKA
    India/2015/102min/DCP/Hindi
    Los Angeles Premiere
    Director: Prashant Nair (IFFLA alum)
    Log line: A young man must learn the truth about what happened to his older brother after he left their small Indian village for the magical, faraway land of “Umrika.”

    Showcasing winning performances by Suraj Sharma (LIFE OF PI) and Tony Revolori (THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL), UMRIKA won the Sundance World Cinema Dramatic Audience Award along with other accolades at festivals around the world. With a moving mix of humor, piercing loss and sacrifice, writer-director and IFFLA alum Prashant Nair captures the power of stories about the faraway, mythical places that are never quite real, but we still risk everything to reach.

    •VISAARANAI (Interrogation)
    India/2015/108min/DCP/Tamil
    Los Angeles Premiere
    Director: Vetri Maaran
    Logline: When a Tamil-speaking immigrant lands in jail on trumped up charges, he must navigate a labyrinth of police brutality and corruption.

    SHORTS

    •ASHRUT (Silent Voices)
    India/2014/26min/DCP/Bengali
    Los Angeles Premiere
    Director: Pritha Chakraborty
    Logline: An intimate documentary portrait of three sisters and their mother that explores the women’s unrealized dreams and confinement to domesticity.

    •BABU’S DILEMMA
    India/2015/24min/HDCAM/Hindi and English
    World Premiere
    Director: Collin D’Cunha
    Logline: An immigrant construction worker in Dubai who can barely make ends meet must find a way to send an expensive gift to his wife back in India.

    •BUNNY
    India/2015/15min/DCP/Non-dialogue
    Los Angeles Premiere
    Director: Megha Ramaswamy
    Logline: A young girl mourns the death of her stuffed bunny.

    •CHHAYA (The Shadow)
    UK/2015/10min/DCP/Non-dialogue 
    Director: Debanjan Nandy
    Logline: Fantasy and reality vehemently clash in the nursing home quarters of a lonely widower.

    •DAARAVTHA (The Threshold)
    India/2016/30min/DCP/Marathi
    U.S. Premiere
    Director: Nishant Roy Bombarde
    Logline: Torn between a patriarchal Indian upbringing and his natural urge to identify with the opposite gender, an adolescent boy discovers his sexuality.

    •LEECHES
    India/2016/27min/DCP/Urdu and Dakhani
    U.S. Premiere
    Director: Payal Sethi
    Logline: A woman embarks on a dangerous journey to save her young sister from being sold as a One-Day Bride.

    •LOVE COMES LATER
    USA/2015/10min/Blu-ray/English
    Los Angeles Premiere
    Director: Sonejuhi Sinha
    Logline: An undocumented motel worker faces a life-altering decision when she discovers she’s pregnant.

    •MAST QALANDAR
    India/2015/15min/DCP/Punjabi and Hindi
    U.S. Premiere
    Director: Divij Roopchand
    Logline: All this rap-loving Sikh boy wants for his thirteenth birthday is a new hairdo.

    •MOCHI (The Cobbler)
    India/2016/20min/Blu-ray/Hindi and Marathi
    World Premiere
    Director: Saqib Pandor
    Logline: When a struggling shoe repairman loses an expensive pair of shoes, his entire world starts to crumble.

    •PLAYGROUNDS
    India/2014/18min/Blu-ray/Hindi and Tamil
    U.S. Premiere
    Directors: ShamikSen Gupta, Pallavi MD
    Logline: When a rickshaw driver discovers a young boy in the back seat of his auto, he embarks on a dark journey to find the child’s parents.

    •THE MANLIEST MAN
    India/2016/23min/DCP/ Hindi and Bundeli
    North American Premiere
    Director: Anuj Gulati
    Logline: When the village potter fails to produce a son, the community Chief calls for a “manlier” man to help the family bear a male offspring.

    About IFFLA
    Now in its 14th year, the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) is a nonprofit organization devoted to a greater appreciation of Indian cinema and culture by showcasing films and promoting the diverse perspectives of the Indian diaspora.

    The five-day festival is the premiere platform for the latest in cutting-edge global Indian cinema and bridges the gap between the two largest entertainment industries in the world – Hollywood and India. The festival will showcase more than 25 films from the Indian filmmaking community across the globe, host the highly anticipated Opening and Closing red carpet Galas, and the Closing Awards ceremony.

    About ArcLight Cinemas
    ArcLight Cinemas, created by Pacific Theatres, a privately owned, Los Angeles based company with 60 years of theatrical exhibition history throughout California, Hawaii and Washington. ArcLight Cinemas operates five theaters in California including Hollywood, Pasadena, Sherman Oaks, El Segundo and La Jolla, and one theater in Bethesda, Md., with additional theaters under construction in Chicago and Santa Monica, California, slated for a 2015 opening. ArcLight also owns and operates the historic Cinerama Dome and programs the TCL Chinese Theatre and IMAX in Hollywood. Pacific Theatres currently operates theaters in Los Angeles that include The Grove and The Americana at Brand in Glendale, CA.

    Christina Marouda, Founder of IFFLA and participant filmmakers are available for interviews. Kindly let us know if you would like to speak to anyone of them.

  • Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) announces Galas and a stellar line-up

    Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) announces Galas and a stellar line-up

    MUMBAI:  The 14 edition of the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) held at ArcLight, Hollywood in Los Angeles, California from 6 to 10 April, 2016, announced its eclectic line-up of 27 films (16 features and 11 shorts) to be screened this year.

    The festival is widely recognized as the premiere showcase of ground breaking Indian cinema globally.

    Opening the festival on April 6 is the U.S. premiere of the powerful Angry Indian Goddesses, from filmmaker and four-time IFFLA alum Pan Nalin. Anu Menon’s poignant Waiting, starring Naseeruddin Shah and Kalki Koechlin, closes the festival with its North American premiere on April 10. Gala tickets and passes are now available at http://www.indianfilmfestival.org/.

    Three films will have their world premiere at the five-day film festival namely, CRD by Kranti Kanade, Babu’s Dilemma by Collin D’Cunha, and Anurag Kashyap produced Mochi (The Cobbler) by Saqib Pandor. In addition, there will be two North American premieres, and ten U.S. premieres.
    More features and shorts from female filmmakers will be presented this year by IFFLA than ever before, including: Deepa Mehta’s gangster drama Beeba Boys; Leena Yadav’s Parched, a piercing examination of India’s patriarchal culture through the stories of four women; Ruchika Oberoi’s genre-bending triptych, Island City; and Rinku Kalsy’s documentary For the Love of a Man, about the fierce devotion shared by South-Indian superstar Rajinikanth’s fans; and in the shorts program, Payal Sethi’s Leeches, Megha Ramaswamy’s Bunny, Pritha Chakraborthy’s Ashrut (Silent Voices) and Sonejuhi Sinha’sLove Comes Later, among others.

    The festival also features two LGBT titles, Hansal Mehta’s politically-charged Aligarh and the short Daaravtha (The Threshold) by Nishant Roy Bombarde, which are bold and compelling statements from filmmakers.

    Tamil cinema has recently emerged as a force on the world stage, and this is exemplified in the two fascinating? Tamil features in the program: Visaaranai (Interrogation) and Kirumi (Virus).

    Highlights in the shorts program include the world premiere of Mochi (The Cobbler), an impressive directorial debut from Saqib Pandor, produced by Anurag Kashyap, and the North American premiere of Anuj Gulati’s The Manliest Man, a boldly told, absurdist tale that reveals a visionary emerging director.

    Attending the festival this year to present their films will be a host of celebrated filmmakers, including Bhaskar Hazarika (Kothanodi), KrantiKanade (CRD), Hansal Mehta (Aligarh), Prashant Nair & Swati Shetty (Umrika), Pan Nalin(Angry Indian Goddesses),Ruchika Oberoi (Island City), Q (Brahman Naman) and Leena Yadav (Parched).
    IFFLA will also host stars from a number of films, including Kalki Koechlin (Waiting) and many of the actors featured in Angry Indian Goddesses.

    Talking about the impressive line-up, Christina Marouda, Founder of IFFLA said, “India’s independent filmmakers are taking bold risks, defying convention, and responding to injustice in each of these visionary films, and the results are breathtaking.” Mike Dougherty, the Director of Programming adds, “I’m extremely excited for our Los Angeles audience to experience these films, which have garnered raves from around the world, or are making their world premieres with us.”

    Complete Line-up

    OPENING NIGHT GALA

    ANGRY INDIAN GODDESSES
    India/2015/115min/DCP/Hindi and English
    U.S. Premiere
    Director: Pan Nalin

    Logline: When an eclectic group of women gathers to celebrate the impending nuptials of a close mutual friend, sparks fly as they each discover the power – and the fury – of the angry goddesses that lie within.  

    CLOSING NIGHT GALA

    WAITING
    India/2015/92min/DCP/Hindi and English
    North American Premiere
    Director: Anu Menon

    Logline: While their spouses lie in comas, two strangers develop a deep connection in the hospital to help support each other through the trials of waiting and grief.

    FEATURES

    •ALIGARH
    India/2015/114min/DCP/Hindi
    Los Angeles Premiere
    Director: Hansal Mehta
    Logline: The true story of Dr. ShrinivasRamchandraSiras, a linguistics professor at Aligarh Muslim University whose outing and threatened termination caused an uproar.

    •BEEBA BOYS
    Canada/2015/103min/DCP/Punjabi and English
    Los Angeles Premiere
    Director: Deepa Mehta (IFFLA alum)
    Logline: A ruthless and charismatic Sikh Canadian gangster leads his crew into war for drugs, money and respect.

    •BRAHMAN NAMAN
    UK/2015/90min/DCP/English
    Los Angeles Premiere
    Director: Q
    Logline:  A team of misfits at Bangalore University makes an alcohol-fueled cross-country journey to the National Quiz Championships, determined to defeat their archrivals and lose their virginities.

    This year’s Sundance Film Festival heard non-stop buzz about director Q’s latest brazen cinematic provocation: a 1980s-set coming-of-age sex comedy. There’s much more on this film’s mind than young lust and sexual hijinks…but it does have plenty of that to spare!

    •CRD
    India/2016/108min/DCP/Hindi and English
    World Premiere
    Director: Kranti Kanade (IFFLA alum)
    Logline:  As aspiring writer Chetan prepares to compete in a prestigious college theater festival, he explores his creative impulses in radical, hilarious and destructive ways.

    •FOR THE LOVE OF A MAN
    India/2015/82min/DCP/Tamil and English
    U.S. Premiere
    Director: Rinku Kalsy
    Logline: An entertaining and unforgettable look at the godlike devotion by millions of fans for South-Indian super-star Rajinikanth.

    •ISLAND CITY
    India/2015/111min/DCP/Hindi
    U.S. Premiere
    Director: Ruchika Oberoi
    Logline: Three stories set in the sprawling city of Mumbai reveal the absurd, bittersweet and heartbreaking ways three characters attempt to push back against society’s plans for them.

    Oberoi brilliantly plays with genre as her film effortlessly shifts from absurdist comedy to escapist fantasy to realist drama (there’s even a tinge of science fiction). Though each character’s journey is markedly different, their goals are similar: to push back against the demands forced on them without any regard for their personal desires. Oberoi’s unique vision won the Best Young Director Award of the Venice Days section at the 2015 Venice Film Festival.

    •KIRUMI (Virus)
    India/2015/99min/DCP/Tamil
    U.S. Premiere
    Director: Anucharan Murugaiyan
    Logline:  An irresponsible young man finds work as a police informant, but his careless tactics soon anger some of Chennai’s most dangerous criminals, and put him and his loved ones in jeopardy.

    First-time director Anucharan Murugaiyan delivers a riveting, white-knuckle thriller from a script co-written with rising star and Tamil filmmaker M. Manikandan (director of 2015 IFFLA Audience Award winner THE CROW’S EGG). Their collaboration is a fine example of Tamil cinema’s recent emergence as a force on the world stage, and a superb elevation of the crime genre into a stylish, sophisticated look at corruption from the inside.

    •KOTHANODI (The River of Fables)
    India/2015/117min/DCP/Assamese
    U.S. Premiere
    Director: Bhaskar Hazarika
    Logline:  A darker side to motherhood is revealed in these Assamese folktales about four women’s strange and unsettling relationships with their children.

    •MASAAN (Fly Away Solo)
    India, France/2015/109min/DCP/Hindi
    Director: Neeraj Ghaywan (IFFLA alum)
    Logline:  Four very different lives intersect along the Ganges, each longing to escape the moral constructs of a small town.

    In the past year, IFFLA alum Neeraj Ghaywan’s debut feature has become one of the most celebrated independent Indian films in recent memory. Its premiere in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard section saw the film win the prestigious FIPRESCI prize, and the section’s jury honored Ghaywan with the Promising Future Award. The film’s release in India garnered rave reviews and is poised to make stars of its talented young cast, including Vicky Kaushal, Richa Chadha and Shweta Tripathi.

    •OTTAAL (The Trap)
    India/2014/81min/DCP/Malayalam
    U.S. Premiere
    Director:  Jayaraj Rajasekharan Nair
    Logline: When an orphan’s kind grandfather falls ill, the young boy is confronted with the bleak fate of millions of children worldwide.

    Winner of the Crystal Bear in the Generation Kplus section of the 2016 Berlin International Film Festival, OTTAAL is directed with patient mastery by director Jayaraj Rajasekharan Nair, and anchored by a heartbreaking performance from its young lead, Ashanth K. Sha.

    •PARCHED
    India/UK/USA/2015/117min/DCP/Hindi
    Los Angeles Premiere
    Director: Leena Yadav
    Logline: Four small-town women struggling with mistreatment and misogyny find surprising ways to take control of their lives.

    Leena Yadav’s drama premiered at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival, and went on to play the Stockholm International Film Festival, where it won the festival’s Impact Award. With vivid, lived-in performances and a script by Yadav that never simplifies what is a complex reality for many Indian women, PARCHED spotlights a harsh patriarchal culture and the women and girls who remain steadfast within it.

    •UMRIKA
    India/2015/102min/DCP/Hindi
    Los Angeles Premiere
    Director: Prashant Nair (IFFLA alum)
    Log line: A young man must learn the truth about what happened to his older brother after he left their small Indian village for the magical, faraway land of “Umrika.”

    Showcasing winning performances by Suraj Sharma (LIFE OF PI) and Tony Revolori (THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL), UMRIKA won the Sundance World Cinema Dramatic Audience Award along with other accolades at festivals around the world. With a moving mix of humor, piercing loss and sacrifice, writer-director and IFFLA alum Prashant Nair captures the power of stories about the faraway, mythical places that are never quite real, but we still risk everything to reach.

    •VISAARANAI (Interrogation)
    India/2015/108min/DCP/Tamil
    Los Angeles Premiere
    Director: Vetri Maaran
    Logline: When a Tamil-speaking immigrant lands in jail on trumped up charges, he must navigate a labyrinth of police brutality and corruption.

    SHORTS

    •ASHRUT (Silent Voices)
    India/2014/26min/DCP/Bengali
    Los Angeles Premiere
    Director: Pritha Chakraborty
    Logline: An intimate documentary portrait of three sisters and their mother that explores the women’s unrealized dreams and confinement to domesticity.

    •BABU’S DILEMMA
    India/2015/24min/HDCAM/Hindi and English
    World Premiere
    Director: Collin D’Cunha
    Logline: An immigrant construction worker in Dubai who can barely make ends meet must find a way to send an expensive gift to his wife back in India.

    •BUNNY
    India/2015/15min/DCP/Non-dialogue
    Los Angeles Premiere
    Director: Megha Ramaswamy
    Logline: A young girl mourns the death of her stuffed bunny.

    •CHHAYA (The Shadow)
    UK/2015/10min/DCP/Non-dialogue 
    Director: Debanjan Nandy
    Logline: Fantasy and reality vehemently clash in the nursing home quarters of a lonely widower.

    •DAARAVTHA (The Threshold)
    India/2016/30min/DCP/Marathi
    U.S. Premiere
    Director: Nishant Roy Bombarde
    Logline: Torn between a patriarchal Indian upbringing and his natural urge to identify with the opposite gender, an adolescent boy discovers his sexuality.

    •LEECHES
    India/2016/27min/DCP/Urdu and Dakhani
    U.S. Premiere
    Director: Payal Sethi
    Logline: A woman embarks on a dangerous journey to save her young sister from being sold as a One-Day Bride.

    •LOVE COMES LATER
    USA/2015/10min/Blu-ray/English
    Los Angeles Premiere
    Director: Sonejuhi Sinha
    Logline: An undocumented motel worker faces a life-altering decision when she discovers she’s pregnant.

    •MAST QALANDAR
    India/2015/15min/DCP/Punjabi and Hindi
    U.S. Premiere
    Director: Divij Roopchand
    Logline: All this rap-loving Sikh boy wants for his thirteenth birthday is a new hairdo.

    •MOCHI (The Cobbler)
    India/2016/20min/Blu-ray/Hindi and Marathi
    World Premiere
    Director: Saqib Pandor
    Logline: When a struggling shoe repairman loses an expensive pair of shoes, his entire world starts to crumble.

    •PLAYGROUNDS
    India/2014/18min/Blu-ray/Hindi and Tamil
    U.S. Premiere
    Directors: ShamikSen Gupta, Pallavi MD
    Logline: When a rickshaw driver discovers a young boy in the back seat of his auto, he embarks on a dark journey to find the child’s parents.

    •THE MANLIEST MAN
    India/2016/23min/DCP/ Hindi and Bundeli
    North American Premiere
    Director: Anuj Gulati
    Logline: When the village potter fails to produce a son, the community Chief calls for a “manlier” man to help the family bear a male offspring.

    About IFFLA
    Now in its 14th year, the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) is a nonprofit organization devoted to a greater appreciation of Indian cinema and culture by showcasing films and promoting the diverse perspectives of the Indian diaspora.

    The five-day festival is the premiere platform for the latest in cutting-edge global Indian cinema and bridges the gap between the two largest entertainment industries in the world – Hollywood and India. The festival will showcase more than 25 films from the Indian filmmaking community across the globe, host the highly anticipated Opening and Closing red carpet Galas, and the Closing Awards ceremony.

    About ArcLight Cinemas
    ArcLight Cinemas, created by Pacific Theatres, a privately owned, Los Angeles based company with 60 years of theatrical exhibition history throughout California, Hawaii and Washington. ArcLight Cinemas operates five theaters in California including Hollywood, Pasadena, Sherman Oaks, El Segundo and La Jolla, and one theater in Bethesda, Md., with additional theaters under construction in Chicago and Santa Monica, California, slated for a 2015 opening. ArcLight also owns and operates the historic Cinerama Dome and programs the TCL Chinese Theatre and IMAX in Hollywood. Pacific Theatres currently operates theaters in Los Angeles that include The Grove and The Americana at Brand in Glendale, CA.

    Christina Marouda, Founder of IFFLA and participant filmmakers are available for interviews. Kindly let us know if you would like to speak to anyone of them.

  • Naseeruddin Shah pledges support for Film Preservation and Restoration Workshop India 2016

    Naseeruddin Shah pledges support for Film Preservation and Restoration Workshop India 2016

    MUMBAI: After having accomplished a successful inaugural edition of an academic initiative focused on Film Preservation and Restoration last year, this year the Film Heritage Foundation in association with Viacom18 have once again joined hands with an aim to save and uphold the legacy of India’s cinematic heritage. 

    The inaugural event, which was held in the National Film Archive of India in Pune saw support from film industry stalwarts such as actor par excellence Naseeruddin Shah who was the Guest of Honor. At the inaugural event, filmmaker and archivist – Shivendra Singh Dungarpur and Chairman CII National Committee on Media & Entertainment & Group CEO Viacom18 Media Pvt- Sudhanshu Vats addressed the audience about the need to preserve India’s rich filmic legacy.

     The workshop titled ‘Film Preservation & Restoration Workshop India 2016’will take place from February 25th to March 6th in Pune and will involve lectures, presentations and practical classes that will be conducted by leading international experts in the field, for cinema enthusiasts who want to learn in-depth knowledge of the subject.

     Naseerudin Shah, in support of the Film Preservation and Restoration Workshop said “It is a matter of great pride for me to be here. On behalf of the entire film fraternity, I would like to thank Shivendra for this initiative. I am very proud that there are 50 films of mine in the archive list here. I can’t thank P.K. Nair Saab enough because he has inspired a generation of youngsters to follow him in his footsteps.”

     Extending support to this unique initiative, CII National Committee on Media & Entertainment chairman & Group CEO Viacom18 Media Sudhanshu Vats said “What are we doing to leave behind a cinematic legacy for the younger generations? We need to preserve our films not just for the joy of entertainment but for safeguarding the ideas that help us learn about our cultural heritage. We at Viacom 18 feel honored to be a part of this initiative. I was convinced from the beginning because I believed in Shivendra and his passion for cinema. The movement has to grow now and I am sure it will when everyone comes together to work towards the cause. It makes me happy to know that now there is direct participation from the Information & Broadcasting Ministry of India. And at the end let us all remember, we can plan our future only by reflecting on our past so let’s all join hands together to save India’s cinematic legacy.”

    Film Heritage Foundation founder director Shivendra Singh Dungarpur said, “The first edition was a great success and put us on the map to save India’s cinematic heritage. This year, the workshop is more advanced and intensive with greater focus on film archiving. NFAI agreed to open the doors for us this year. We have big plans and we wish to build an army of film archivists. Funding and technology are essential but we need educated skilled people as well. Film preservation is not a business; it is love… love for cinema. Mr. Sudhanshu Vats and the entire Viacom18 team – I cannot thank them enough. Sudhanshu had the foresight and believed in our vision and today we are celebrating our second year. Here’s to many more years of celebrating and trying to conserve India’s cinematic heritage together.”

    With a mix of technical workshops on the craft of preservation and lectures specially designed by David Walsh, Head of the FIAF Technical Commission, there will also be a daily screening of a restored classic preceded by an introductory talk on the restoration. One of the USP’s of this initiative, this year is that Thelma Ross from the Museum of Modern Art, New York will be conducting sessions in the specialized field of documentation and cataloguing.

  • Naseeruddin Shah pledges support for Film Preservation and Restoration Workshop India 2016

    Naseeruddin Shah pledges support for Film Preservation and Restoration Workshop India 2016

    MUMBAI: After having accomplished a successful inaugural edition of an academic initiative focused on Film Preservation and Restoration last year, this year the Film Heritage Foundation in association with Viacom18 have once again joined hands with an aim to save and uphold the legacy of India’s cinematic heritage. 

    The inaugural event, which was held in the National Film Archive of India in Pune saw support from film industry stalwarts such as actor par excellence Naseeruddin Shah who was the Guest of Honor. At the inaugural event, filmmaker and archivist – Shivendra Singh Dungarpur and Chairman CII National Committee on Media & Entertainment & Group CEO Viacom18 Media Pvt- Sudhanshu Vats addressed the audience about the need to preserve India’s rich filmic legacy.

     The workshop titled ‘Film Preservation & Restoration Workshop India 2016’will take place from February 25th to March 6th in Pune and will involve lectures, presentations and practical classes that will be conducted by leading international experts in the field, for cinema enthusiasts who want to learn in-depth knowledge of the subject.

     Naseerudin Shah, in support of the Film Preservation and Restoration Workshop said “It is a matter of great pride for me to be here. On behalf of the entire film fraternity, I would like to thank Shivendra for this initiative. I am very proud that there are 50 films of mine in the archive list here. I can’t thank P.K. Nair Saab enough because he has inspired a generation of youngsters to follow him in his footsteps.”

     Extending support to this unique initiative, CII National Committee on Media & Entertainment chairman & Group CEO Viacom18 Media Sudhanshu Vats said “What are we doing to leave behind a cinematic legacy for the younger generations? We need to preserve our films not just for the joy of entertainment but for safeguarding the ideas that help us learn about our cultural heritage. We at Viacom 18 feel honored to be a part of this initiative. I was convinced from the beginning because I believed in Shivendra and his passion for cinema. The movement has to grow now and I am sure it will when everyone comes together to work towards the cause. It makes me happy to know that now there is direct participation from the Information & Broadcasting Ministry of India. And at the end let us all remember, we can plan our future only by reflecting on our past so let’s all join hands together to save India’s cinematic legacy.”

    Film Heritage Foundation founder director Shivendra Singh Dungarpur said, “The first edition was a great success and put us on the map to save India’s cinematic heritage. This year, the workshop is more advanced and intensive with greater focus on film archiving. NFAI agreed to open the doors for us this year. We have big plans and we wish to build an army of film archivists. Funding and technology are essential but we need educated skilled people as well. Film preservation is not a business; it is love… love for cinema. Mr. Sudhanshu Vats and the entire Viacom18 team – I cannot thank them enough. Sudhanshu had the foresight and believed in our vision and today we are celebrating our second year. Here’s to many more years of celebrating and trying to conserve India’s cinematic heritage together.”

    With a mix of technical workshops on the craft of preservation and lectures specially designed by David Walsh, Head of the FIAF Technical Commission, there will also be a daily screening of a restored classic preceded by an introductory talk on the restoration. One of the USP’s of this initiative, this year is that Thelma Ross from the Museum of Modern Art, New York will be conducting sessions in the specialized field of documentation and cataloguing.