The 53rd International Film Festival of India in Goa, India (IFFI), started off with a stunning start on Nov. 20.
The Dr. Shyamaprasad Mukherjee Indoor Stadium was nearly full when Bollywood star Varun Dhawan performed. His next film will be filmed at the stadium’s 4,000 capacity. “Bhediya”Mrunal Thakur and Ajay Devgn will be premiering at the festival. Ajay Devgn and Kartik Aaryan were among the on-stage guests. Paresh Rawal, Sara Ali Khan, Suniel Shetty and Suniel Shetty also made appearances. The evening was hosted by Aparshakti Khaurana, an actor.
South Indian cinema star Catherine Tresa Alexander performed to a selection of Telugu-, Tamil and Kannada cinema hit songs. Southern industries were also represented. “RRR”And “Baahubali” writer Vijayendra Prasad.
Presiding over proceedings was India’s Information & Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur. India marks 75 years since independence. Thakur spoke out to say that India will continue to be a global film-making, co-production, and post-production hub over the next 25-years.
“We aim to make India a powerhouse of content creation, especially regional cinema, by scaling up regional festivals,” Thakur said. The minister also mentioned the South Asian movie market Film Bazaar that takes place simultaneously with IFFI. It is the first time that the festival has a technology center to show the latest innovations in cinema.
Goa’s Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said that the setting up of an international standard multiplex and convention center in Goa was in its final stages and IFFI could be held there by 2025.
Spanish auteur Carlos Saura was honored with the festival’s Satyajit Ray lifetime achievement award. Saura could not attend due to bronchitis, so the award was accepted via video. Anna, Saura’s daughter, was able to accept the award on his behalf. IFFI has a retrospective on Saura. The IFFI Indian Film Personality Award was presented to Chiranjeevi, a South Indian superstar.
Among the dignitaries present were L. Murugan, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting, Ravinder Bhakar, MD of India’s National Film Development Corporation, which organizes IFFI alongside the Entertainment Society of Goa, and Apurva Chandra, secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
Chandra read a letter from Indian Prime minister Narendra Modi to Chandra, which stated in part: “Films in different Indian languages are reaching out to a larger international audience and are being increasingly appreciated across the world. As the biggest film festival of India, IFFI promotes an invigorating synergy between delegates from different nations and societies united by cinema.”
Austrian films opened the festival “Alma & Oskar,”Dieter Berner directs. IFFI runs Nov. 20-28.