By Asma Torgal

THE momentous ceremony of the 54th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) began on Monday, November 20, 2023. It is now attracting a diverse audience globally! This year there are 2,926 film submissions from 105 countries, a significant increase from last year. There are over 270 curated movies in on-going screenings and 32 entries from 15 OTT platforms for the Best Web Series Award. But what caught one’s attention was the master class, red carpets and checking what’s new this year.
•Anurag Thakur announced increases in incentive for foreign film production to 40%!
This is to say Union Minister for Information & Broadcasting, Anurag Thakur, announced a special incentive to attract international film productions to India. He said, “The Government has raised the incentive to a maximum of up to 40 per cent of the expenditure incurred with the raised limit of Rs 30 crores exceeding USD 30.5 million.”
Anurag Singh also inaugurated the first VFX and Tech Pavilion. Thakur noted that the 54th edition has many firsts like the presence of 40 women filmmakers at the festival this year. He also spoke about the recent Cinematograph Amendment Bill 2023 that broadened the legal framework, shifting focus beyond censorship.

•Madhuri Dixit receives special recognition
Madhuri Dixit received the Special Recognition for Contribution to Bharatiya Cinema Award for her contribution to Indian cinema. Renowned personalities including Vijay Sethupathi, Sara Ali Khan, Pankaj Tripathi, Sunny Deol, Karan Johar, and Shantanu Moitra, witnessed the celebration of Madhuri’s illustrious four-decade-long career. After receiving the award, Madhuri said, “I am very honoured to receive this award. These types of awards always encourage and motivate us to do more good works.”

•Salman Khan attends IFFI to support and cheer his niece, for her upcoming film “Farrey.”
Bollywood superstar Salman Khan attended the premiere of “Farrey” on Tuesday, Nov 21. The film, presented by Salman Khan Films, stars Salman’s niece Alizeh Agnihotri, Sahil Mehta, Prasanna Bisht, Zeyn Shaw, Ronit Roy, Juhi Babbar Soni and Shilpa Shukla. Earlier, Salman Khan unveiled the trailer of “Farrey,” which showcased the journey of Niyati (Alizeh) from a small town entering a high school.
Earlier in the day Goa Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant hosted Bollywood actor Salman Khan at his official residence at Altinho. The actor was accompanied by Goa BJP MLA Michael Lobo.

•Sunny Deol breaks down and cries on stage during master class!
Bollywood actor Sunny Deol got emotional during a masterclass. Sunny opened up about his movie career and recalled how he didn’t have any work for so many years after the release of “Gadar.” The actor was joined by his directors Rajkumar Santoshi, Rahul Rawail, and Anil Sharma and said,
“I was very fortunate. I started with Rahul. He gave me three beautiful films. Some worked, some didn’t. But till today, people remember those films. I am standing here because of my films. After `Gadar,’ which was a massive hit, my struggle period started because subjects or scripts were not offered to me and things were not happening. Even though I did some films in between, there was a gap of 20 years. But I did not give up. I was always moving forward. I joined films because I wanted to become an actor, not a star. I had seen the films of my father and I too wanted to do films of that variety,” Sunny quoted.
To this, Rajkumar Santoshi added, “I believe that the industry has not done justice to Sunny’s talent. But God has done justice.” The director’s statement left Sunny Deol in tears. Sunny Deol and Rajkumar Santoshi are all set to collaborate again after 27 years in “Lahore 1947,” which will be produced by Aamir Khan.

•Vijay Sethupathi’s silent film “Gandhi Speaks” fulfils part of its mission
Indian actor Vijay Sethupathi was mobbed by an enormous crowd which thronged to see the National Film awardee. The actor is still riding on the wave of the success of the Shah Rukh Khan-starrer “Jawan,” where he played the villain’s role. Vijay was in Goa for the gala premiere of his new film, “Gandhi Talks” directed by Kishor Pandurang Belekar and starring Vijay in the lead with Aditi Rao Hydari, Mahesh Manjrekar, Arvind Swamy and Siddharth Jadhav. He also walked the red carpet along with Aditi Rao Hydari, the director Kishor Pandurang Belekar, producer Shariq Patel and AR Rahman, the music director of the film. Interestingly, “Gandhi Talks” is the first so described “silent movie” to be screened at IFFI.
On day 2, during his interactive masterclass Vijay Sethupathi in conversation with actor-politician Kushboo Sundar, asked everyone not to take the conversations too seriously, after he earned applause while entering the stage. He took the stage for the Q&A session with Khushbu at IFFI. He greeted them in his signature style, uttering his popular dialogue, “Are You Okay, Baby” from the Tamil film “Naanum Rowdy Dhaan.”
“Knowledge is all about people whom you interact with. I got to know some great minds who work in cinema. Who we interact with and the minds that we discuss things with are so important. They plant ideas into your head,” said Vijay.

Elaborating his journey from his very first film and learning along the way, Sethupathi said, “During my first film, there was fear of making a mistake and somewhere I wanted to impress the director. Now, I focus on how to do it. I’m a much more secure actor now!”
He also recalled how he felt like an ill-dressed misfit during the opening ceremony of IFFI earlier this week when stars like Karan Johar, Shahid Kapoor and Sara Ali Khan were dressed in their finest designer wear outfits.

•Cried twice watching “Kadak”: Pankaj Tripathi.
Versatile Bollywood actor, Pankaj Tripathi, in conversation with Indian film critic and journalist, Mayank Shekhar addressed the audience with an interesting talk at the afternoon session titled, “Unique Swagger in Every Role.”
Tripathi said “Actors are like clay, can mould their body and emotions into whatever the character demands,” he explained further. In a world like ours where change is the only constant, “I always feel that whoever I am today, right now, I will be a better person tomorrow.”
Pankaj Tripathi’s much-awaited flick “Kadak Singh” is all set to premiere on ZEE5 on December 8. The makers of the film unveiled the trailer of “Kadak Singh” at the opening ceremony of IFFI. In the film, Pankaj plays the role of a man, who is suffering from retrograde amnesia. Speaking more about the film, Pankaj Tripathi said, “I watched the film and I became extremely emotional. It’s a great and different film. I cried twice while watching it.”

•Goa Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant hosts red carpet for Goan Films
Giving equal weightage to Goan films, this year, the Goan Section opened the red carpet on November 24 for all seven Goan films hosted by Goan Chief Minister Pramod Sawant. The seven films include two feature and four non-feature films. The film’s themes range from love, mysteries and strong women-oriented stories. The ongoing films screening are “Gathan,” “MOG,” “Crazy Mogi,” “Maarwat,” “Peace Lily Sand Castle,” “The Witness,” and “Yashoda.” The Goan package began with the screening of the Konkani film “Gathan” directed by Dinesh P Bhonsle