“In this polarised world, within nations, within communities, the only way we talk to each other is by telling each other our stories. Stories are how we relate. Stories are how we perceive each other. That’s what has to go on and we have to go on holding film festivals,” said filmmaker Shekhar Kapur, Festival Director of the 55th International Film Festival of India (IFFI), Goa, at its opening ceremony.
Calling Indians “the greatest content makers” and “the greatest content consumers” in the world, the director of ‘Masoom’ and ‘Mr India’ said: “So, [at] this festival, I beg everyone to celebrate not just the filmmakers but our audiences too. Let’s tell each other our stories…War here, war there. How will this stop? The only way this will stop is if we get together and tell each other our stories and understand each other.”
If Indian cinema is a melting pot of cultures and themes, the opening was determinedly a reflection of that. During the ceremony, many aspects of the entertainment industry were celebrated through multiple dance performances, a series of announcements about upcoming projects and facilities; and several prominent personalities of Indian cinema were honoured. Of the many announcements made during the ceremony, there were two about upcoming feature films — ‘Truce Against All Odds’ and ‘Gandhi: A Perspective’. The first one talks about Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s role in bringing peace in war-torn areas and is made as part of Indian-Columbia audio-visual agreement while the latter, directed by Subhash Ghai, aims to acquaint the young generation about Mahatma Gandhi’s role in India’s freedom struggle.
The festival, interestingly, opened with the watering of a sapling by the Chief Minister of Goa Pramod Sawant, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Kapur and other dignitaries as a celebration of ‘Green Goa’. This was followed by ‘Bharat Vandana’, which featured dancers performing to a medley of devotional songs, including ‘Ik Omkar’, MS Subbulakshmi’s ‘Vishnu Sahasranamam’, apart from invocation of Shiva, Ganpati, Rama and Krishna.
Later in the evening, actors Ishaan Khattar and Manushi Chillar headlined two more such high-octane dance performances. Such extravaganza, that has become de rigueur of IFFI opening ceremony, ensured that Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Indoor Stadium, with a capacity of 4,000, was almost packed with film personalities as well as film lovers.
At the opening of IFFI, scheduled to take place till November 28, prominent personalities like actor Jaideep Ahlawat, R Sarathkumar, Pranitha Subhash and Chidananda S Naik (winner of the Cinéfondation 1st Prize at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival for his film ‘Sunflowers Were the First Ones to Know…’ ) were honoured. The ceremony also paid a tribute to Raj Kapoor, Mohammed Rafi, Tapan Sinha, and Akkineni Nageswara — the centenary year of these icons is being celebrated by IFFI this year.
Speaking about the focus on creating content via a video message, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnav said: “We in India at this point of time are very much focused on developing the content creators’ economy. We have a very vibrant content creators’ economy, where people are coming up with innovative content, showcasing some of the rich heritage, cuisines and culture of India. We believe that with the addition of technology and the development of a creators’ ecosystem, India can play a major role in the way the creators’ economy is shaping up.”
Keeping up with the evolving landscape of entertainment, Prasar Bharati announced the launch of its digital platform — Waves. The cast and crew of Fauzi 2, which is a new version of the 1989-series ‘Fauzi’ which made Shah Rukh Khan a national crush and is currently being aired on Doordarshan, appeared on the stage.
Welcoming the delegates and guests, Sawant said, “For the past 20 years (2004 to 2024), IFFI has been celebrated in Goa and has become a special event in our calendar. Former Union Defence Minister and former Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar brought IFFI to Goa. IFFI has given Goa a global platform and created infrastructure in the state.”
Earlier, Prithul Kumar, Joint Secretary of Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and Managing Director, NFDC, had said that 6,500 delegates have been registered this year marking an increase of 25 per cent over last year. To make the festival more accessible to the film lovers, 6 more screens and 45 per cent more screening theatres will be made available this year. In this edition of IFFI, Australia will be the Country of Focus, showcasing a dedicated film package and fostering collaboration with India through a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Screen Australia and NFDC. The festival also picked Australian film ‘Better Man’, by Michael Gracey which offers a captivating glimpse into the life of the British pop star Robbie Williams to open the festival.
