JAY JOSHI
Goan film industry has over the years emerged as a formidable centre for out-of-the box, thought-provoking content and the new Goan film that is set to hit the screens in the coming days promises to maintain that tradition. Glory, a film about Goan football is the first attempt at Konkani sports film made by Prasad creations. The film chronicles Goa’s moment of glory when the state won Santosh trophy in 1983.
“Football is Goa’s favourite sport, and former chief minister Manohar Parrikar gave us tremendous support and encouragement to make a film about the game,” says A Durga Prasad, producer and director of the film, while elaborating why he chose to make a Konkani sports film. We had earlier done films such as Enemy, Martin etc in other genres, but Parrikar insisted that Goa must have a film on football, and so, we made this movie.” Around 500 people worked on the film, which boasts sound design by Bishwadeep Chatterjee, who was earlier associated with films such as Bajirao Mastani and Uri. Similarly, Neeraj Voralia, who has world with award-winning films such as Shwas is on board as editor of the film. Along with good content, the film tries to deliver better production quality too, including VFX effects,on which a team of 15-20 people has worked for four months, says the producer.
“The film captures all aspects of the game of football,” informs Prasad, who is directing the film along with Tinky George “On one side, the players have to manage their personal lives while on the other side function as a cohesive team despite internal politics and other issues.
The film revolves around the spirit of unity, sportsmanship and teamwork,” states Prasad, who is confident of making the film a commercial and critical success. He does underline that Goan audience play crucial role in bringing glory to the state’s film industry.
“Goan films have won awards in a number of film festivals around the world, but they need more patronage from the state’s people. In states such as Andhra Pradesh, there are 4 crore people, so regional films do good business, but we do not have that kind of numbers in Goa. In such conditions, it is need of the hour for more an more Goans to watch local films.” avers Prasad.
The government too needs to do more on its part to encourage local filmmakers, he adds. “More needs to be done when it comes to taking permissions and other facilities for filmmakers in Goa. While other states in India have single window clearance for permissions, it has not yet been introduced in Goa. This system saves considerable time and hassle for producers.
Secondly, the government should work on reducing the time taken to release grants-in-aid for films,” says the filmmaker.
The film is set for release on
24 May.
