The 43rd International Film Festival of India, coinciding with 100 years of Indian Cinema, opened on Tuesday in the beach city of Panjim, with Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar lighting the diya , among other dignitaries.
Addressing the gathering of stalwarts from world cinema and India, including a huge Polish delegation, the Minister of State (Independent) for Information & Broadcasting, Manish Tewari, termed the festival as the “pantheon of extravaganza”.
While lauding its great contribution, Tewari said the biggest challenge for Indian cinema was to use its “power for the larger good not only of the audience but of people at large.”
In his address, Akshay Kumar, citing an example from his own childhood, said Indian films were playing big role in bringing about togetherness in families. He said watching a film together as a family is the biggest joy that he got.
The 43rd IFFI is also felicitating iconic Polish director Krzysztof Zanussi with a Lifetime Achievement Award. Apart from this, there are special segments of films from Turket, animation as also a homage section, which pay tribute to the masters of Indian cinema who are no more.
The opening session also featured the screening of Ang Lee’s latest film “ Life of Pi ” in 3D, as also a docu-dance presentation on ‘100 Years of Indian Cinema’.
However, the presentation was more about ‘100 Years of Bollywood’ rather than Indian cinema, as names of most regional cinema stalwarts such as G Aravindan, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Mrinal Sen, Ritwik Ghatak, Shyam Benegal et al were mentioned only as a post-scripts. Interestingly, Satyajit Ray’s name was given a miss in the post-script-like mention, as were the names of many well-known regional actors such as MGR, NTR, Sivaji Ganesan and others.
THACKERAY SHADOW
The late Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray’s shadow loomed large over the 43{+r}{+d} IFFI celebrations in Goa. Chief Minister Manohar Parikkar and actor Akshay Kumar made special mention of the departed leader. Kumar also appealed to the entire audience to stand up in silence for a minute to pay respect to Thackeray, Rajesh Khanna, Yash Chopra and Dara Singh.
FOOTBALL GROUND
The experiment to hold the opening ceremony of IFFI at the huge football grounds in Panjim had its pros and cons. While the space was much larger, the effect of the documentary on ‘100 Years of Indian Cinema’ was marred by too much light filtering into the enclosure.
aditi.n@thehindu.co.in