IFFI 2021, with its many firsts, showcased the best of cinema!
Manu Shrivastava | Panjim
The 52nd edition of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) began at Panaji (Goa) in a hybrid avatar. In the first international event in Goa since the pandemic, more than 3,000 delegates including film enthusiasts and industry personalities will converge in Goa. The festival will showcase more than 300 films including 148 films from about 73 countries in the International Section with about 12 world premieres, seven international premieres, 26 Asia premieres and about 64 India premieres.
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| Bollywood actor Kartik Aryan at the star-studded IFFI 2021 |
The festival plugged as one of many firsts, for the first time, witnessed the hosting of the BRICS Film Festival held along with 52nd IFFI with eight film screenings. Major OTT platforms Netflix, Amazon Prime, Zee5, Voot and SonyLIV participated in IFFI through exclusive Masterclasses, content launches and previews, also for the first time.
The festival commenced on 20 November 2021 with a grand opening ceremony, hosted by filmmaker Karan Johar and actor Maniesh Paul, attended by Indian cinema stalwarts that included veteran actor and MP Hema Malini, who was presented the Indian Film Personality of the Year 2021.
Celebrated Hungarian filmmaker István Szabó, known for Mephisto, and American filmmaker Martin Scorsese were given the prestigious Satyajit Ray Lifetime Achievement Awards this year. In a pre-recorded message, Scorsese said, "I cannot tell you how proud I am to be receiving an award named after Satyajit Ray. Ray is one of my masters...I keep his films with me all the time."
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| Filmmaker Martin Scorsese responding after receiving the prestigious award at IFFI 2021 |
During the ceremony, Himachal Pradesh Governor Rajendra Arlekar and I&B Minister Anurag Thakur felicitated the jury members. Anurag Thakur emphasised on making India a powerhouse of content creation. Bollywood celebrities Salman Khan, Ranveer Singh, Shraddha Kapoor, Mouni Roy, Raashi Khanna, Riteish Deshmukh and Genelia D'Souza gave power-packed performances.
Despite all the hurdles including the COVID-induced lockdown and concurrent restrictions, IFFI-52 received 624 film entries from 96 countries. Director of the opening movie for Indian Panorama section (non-feature), Ved...The Visionary, Rajiv Prakash, expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the jury and the audience.
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| Bollywood actor Salman Khan performing at the Opening Ceremony of IFFI 2021 |
During the nine-day festival, delegates also got a chance to attend a three-day Virtual Masterclass by renowned Paris-based school of image and arts, GOBELINS, l'école de l'image.
India’s Own James Bond Analysed
After a glam-packed opening ceremony, the International Film Festival of India (IFFI-52) enthralled cinephiles with strategically-curated interactive sessions. In an In-Conversation session, 'Creating Cult Icons: India's own James Bond (007) with the Family Man', the creators of the show spoke about the power of authentic story-telling and how powerful content drawn from real-life incidents is now being generated.
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| The Family Man 2 team during a Masterclass at IFFI 2021 |
Manoj Bajpayee, who played the protagonist Srikant Tiwari, joined the discussion virtually and revealed how, as a middle-class person himself, he could relate to the protagonist's life in the beginning of his career and didn't need any external reference.
“The resounding popularity of The Family Man can be attributed to the authenticity and realism that the character of Srikant Tiwari is rooted in. The idea of this character came from observing people in everyday life and we thought that if James Bond was from Chembur, how would he be?” felt the web-series creators Raj and DK. Samantha Ruth Prabhu shared what drove her to essay the character of Raji.
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| Filmmakers from around the world attended IFFI 2021 |
She said, “Female actors tend to get uni-dimensional characters and there is this fear of your performance becoming repetitive, which can happen if you choose roles that are in a familiar emotional space. However, with Raji it was very different and exciting.” Samantha is, incidentally, the first South Indian actress to be invited as a speaker to the film festival.
On Day Three of IFFI-52, during a Masterclass 'Creating Cinematic Success and Storytelling of Sardam Udham', Director Shoojit Sircar and Producer Ronnie Lahiri spoke to an inquisitive audience about their experiences while making the film and on their lives as filmmakers.
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| Director Shoojit Sircar (middle) and producer Ronnie Lahiri during the interaction |
The duo is well known for making movies with unconventional storylines. They came together for the Vicky Kaushal starrer 'Sardar Udham' where the narrative was of a lesser-known revolutionary freedom fighter and the film still became a box office hit.
On how they worked as a team, Ronnie said, "I live in Goa, curate live music while Shoojit loves football and lives in Kolkata. Whenever we want to make a film, we just get together in Mumbai, make the film and leave the city." When asked why so few movies were made on important issues that remained ignored, Shoojit said, "An idea is good but as a director, I need to see if there's a script on that idea that I can make a film for two hours."
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| Riteish Deshmukh and Genelia D'Souza performing during the Opening Ceremony of IFFI 2021 |
"In all my films such as Piku, October, etc., there's some kind of association with my own life. My mother was comatose and I had to be with her in ICU for three months. It is this that I tried to show in October. So, ideas for all my films have been drawn from personal experiences. I have followed the masters of cinema such as Ray, Mrinal Sen, Akira Kurosawa, etc. And yes, all my film studies have been in film festivals."
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