The opening ceremony of the 55th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa on Wednesday was packed with several Bollywood-style performances. But it also took some time to deal with the film business as well.
This scene came from ‘The Perfect Couple’ rising star Ishaan Khatter dancing to a variety of Bollywood songs and Manushi Chhillar to film songs from various creative industries in India. Sanya Malhotra and Sunny Kaushal have composed a score that chronicles the journey of Indian cinema from 1913 to the present day.
Australia is the country IFFI is focusing on this year, and there were performances by Australian dancers too.
On the commercial front, on the back of the India-Colombia joint audio-visual production agreement signed in October, the first look of a film on the role of guru and spiritual leader Sri Ravi Shankar in bringing peace to Colombia was unveiled.
Veteran director Subhash Ghai has presented a short docudrama look at Gandhi’s legacy. State-owned Indian Public Broadcasting Corporation Prasar Bharati launched the live streaming app Waves.
There were plenty of celebrations and congratulatory moments too. The centenary of Indian cinema icons Raj Kapoor, Tapan Sinha, Akkineni Nageswara Rao and Mohammad Rafi was celebrated in the presence of their families. Postage stamps were issued in their honor.
The huge success of Bollywood horror comedy ‘Stree 2’ was celebrated on stage with director Amar Kaushik and stars Rajkummar Rai and Abhishek Banerjee, who hosted the event along with actor Bhumi Pednekar.
Also on stage were the cast of ‘Fauji 2’, the sequel to the show that catapulted Shah Rukh Khan to stardom decades ago. A new series based on the ancient Indian epic “The Ramayana” was shown on stage in the presence of the cast and crew. Both series are shown on state broadcaster Doordarshan.
Among the actors honored on stage were Jayam Ravi, Jadeep Ahlawat, R. Filmmakers honored include R. K. Selvamani, Chidananda S. Naik, who won the Cinefondation Prize at Cannes this year for his short film “Sunflowers Were the First to Know.”
The international competition jury, including Chairman Ashutosh Gowarikar, Jill Billcock, Anthony Chen and Elisabeth Carlsen, were also welcomed to the stage.
Presiding over the proceedings at the Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Indoor Stadium in Goa were Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, Sanjay Gaju, Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and IFFI Festival Director Shekhar Kapoor along with a host of other dignitaries.