While this year’s festival saw very few documentaries when compared to previous years, it is also seeing the presence of many more debutant film directors with contemporary ideas which is a very good sign
Chairperson of feature films, jury of Indian panorama John Mathew Matthan, chairperson of Indian Panorama, non-feature films Haobam Paban Kumar, and jury member feature films, Jadumoni Dutta addressed the media on Monday at the ongoing 51st edition of International Film Festival of India.
“I thank the Government of India and directorate of Film festivals for holding IFFI-51 even amid the pandemic situation. There were 180 films (of which 20 films were selected under feature films) and it was an enormous task for every Jury member. However the films were selected unanimously without any dispute”, said John Mathew Matthan.
The Feature Jury comprises 12 Members who individually represent various acclaimed films, film bodies and professions, whereas collectively representing the diverse Indian film making fraternity:
While speaking about the entries received under Non-feature films, Haobam Paban Kumar, Chairperson, Non-Feature Films mentioned that, “the festival had very few documentaries when compared to previous years. Only thing lacking this time was there were very few documentaries and more short films.” Paban Kumar suggested to change the term Non-Feature film category to Documentary and Short films, and also insisted that the documentaries are very important.
“Under Non-Feature film section, 20 out of 143 films were selected for screening. It was so fun working with all jury members and I never felt exhausted,” he added.
He also stated that there are many young film makers this year. “More than 60-70 people are new film makers which is a good sign. Even the opening film, Saand Ki Aankh, is also made by a young film maker.”
The Jury members, when asked about choosing ‘Saand Ki Aankh’ by Tushar Hiranandani as the opening film of Indian Panorama, stated that the film has a number of aspects which touched the heart of the Jury. The member also appreciated the music, Cinematography, Editing and the script that made it to be chosen unanimously as the opening film. Also the film is set in the backdrop of a village where women are restricted to go out of their homes, who eventually break all barriers to achieve big in life. The Jury member also mentioned that this movie is a great encouragement to women not only in villages but also in urban centers. Choreographer and Jury Member-feature Films, Kala Master appreciated the entire crew of Saand Ki Aankh.
Filmmaker and Journalist and also one of the Jury members, Sanghamitra Chaudhuri, lauded the efforts of debutant film directors (of IFFI-51) who have come up with contemporary ideas.
Gujarati film Paanchika by Ankit Kothari is the opening film in the Indian Panorama Non-feature section
Tough to define where one’s personal boundaries end: Venugopal
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PANAJI
Debutant filmmaker Sharan Venugopal and actor, producer Bhargava Poludasu, addressed a press conference at the 51st IFFI in Panaji on Mondau.
Speaking about his 37-minute Malayalam non-feature film (Oru Paathira Swapnam Pole), Venugopal said, “It is very tough to define where one’s personal boundaries end. The film is set against this plot.”
Talking about the film, Venugopal said, “We shot this film during March 2020; after which nationwide lockdown was announced. We were doubtful if our film would be screened. But we are very happy and satisfied to see our film being selected and screened this year under IFFI’s Indian Panorama”.
Poludasu, actor and producer of Telugu Film, ‘Gatham’, also shared his experiences. “Gatham is a big hit of 2020 in Telugu language on OTT platforms. Working as a software professional, my crew and I managed to steal time during weekends to complete this film. It was our passion that made us achieve this.”
Talking about its cinematography, Poludasu mentioned that, “After watching the initial visuals, we realized that the film will become a much bigger project which we hadn’t planned for. I also learnt how not to make a film. Earlier, I used to pass comments on any film or film makers about its quality. But now after making this film, I have one thing to say to everyone “If someone has made a movie, do respect them.”
‘70s were a golden period for Hindi film industry’
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PANAJI
The 1970s saw an influx of new ideas, new experiments and a new genre of action films in Hindi cinema. Those were also the golden years for unconventional films and emergence of new techniques, said acclaimed film-maker Rahul Rawail, in an online ‘In-Conversation’ session on ‘Filmmaking in 50s, 60s and 70s’, at IFFI51 as he took the virtual delegates through a marvellous journey of the evolution of Hindi film industry over the years.
Recalling his cinematic journey, the film-maker said, “I started working in this industry from the late 60s and began my career as an assistant to the legendary Raj Kapoor. Stalwarts like K Asif and Mehmood made films with magnificent sets in the 60s, after which Baburam Ishara’s ‘Chetna’ in the 70s brought about a revolution with shootings done on location over 25-30 days, something which was unusual in those days.”
He said that Vijay Anand’s film, Dev-Anand starrer ‘Johnny Mera Naam’ also gave rise to a new form of action-oriented, big plot films in that period. The golden 70s when business was growing fast in the Hindi film-industry saw an ‘unconventional hero’ played by Amitabh Bachchan in Zanjeer. It gave birth to the image of ‘angry young man’, a newly established brand back then. Nasir Hussain’s ‘Yaadon Ki Baaraat’ (1973) which saw the coming of Salim-Javed had a great script, says Rawail. Raj Kapoor’s ‘Bobby’ which introduced Rishi Kapoor and Dimple Kapadia also started a new trend.
“These films were bringing in a change and adding to the whole palate of film-making,” opines Rawail. Remembering Rishi Kapoor, Rawail says he was an underrated actor. Another star, Jeetendra also came in with a new appeal and new style in the world of Hindi cinema. Rawail also remembers that ‘Deewar’ – a brilliantly toned film took Yash Chopra to great heights in that period. Yash Chopra went further with more memorable films like Trishul.
Rawail remembers, “In those days there existed a healthy competition among the film stars. Every actor was rising above each other, but there was no rivalry.” He recalls how the three stalwarts – Raj Kapoor, Dev Anand and Dilip Kumar came across each other in a restaurant and started talking like intimate friends about the old days and each other’s films.
He narrates another interesting story of how the great Sachin Dev Burman politely said that doing music for ‘Laila Majnu’ is not for him and recommended Madan Mohan for it. The music directors, great singers and lyricists would sit together with directors and get to know the story and also the actor who would lip-sync, all for adding perfection to the film.
Audience was also experiencing new kinds of movies. It carried on into the 80s when more new people came in, although the old-guards were still there. The 80s saw the coming of stalwarts like Subhash Ghai and Shatrughna Sinha, among others.
When Rawail made Arjun in that period, it again started a new trend of having no story, but only character. He recalls that Javed Akhtar wrote the script for ‘Arjun’ at a stretch in 8 hours. Rawail also made Amjad Khan, who was popular for playing a villain, do a comic role. Though many people were sceptical about this decision, Rawail remembered his guru Raj Kapoor’s advice that ‘a great script would always work’ and went on with it.
At the end, Rawail said, the 70s and 80s were the period when this industry grew a lot, but it is still growing.
