| Extended festivities for cine buffs |
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Connoisseurs of good cinema are in for an extended festival season with the 35th edition of the International Film Festival of India getting underway even as the dream merchants of Mumbai flood the marquees with this year’s biggest ever productions.
Connoisseurs of good cinema are in for an extended festival season with the 35th edition of the International Film Festival of India getting underway even as the dream merchants of Mumbai flood the marquees with this year’s biggest ever productions.
India has hosted 34 International Film Festivals since 1952, both competitive and non-competitive. These festivals became annual events from 1975.
The next festival, which includes a competition for feature films by Asian directors, will be held in Goa from Nov 29.
A host of top celebrities from Bollywood along with several internationally acclaimed artistes are expected to converge at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI).
According to the organisers, Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand, Amitabh Bachchan, Sharmila Tagore, Mira Nair, Karan Johar and Oscar winners Robert Bilheimer and Florian Gallenberger, who is a member of the jury, Juan Gerlad, Darrell James Roodt, Amos Gitai, Denish Boivan, Kate Shortland, Avi Neshar, Xiaolian Peng and Karen Shakhnazarov are expected during the film festival.
The festival will have some 200 films over a 10-day period. Fifteen films from Iran, China, Israel, Russia and Sri Lanka, some of which have already won prestigious awards abroad, will compete with Shwaas, the official entry for the Oscars, and Bow Barracks Forever by Anjan Dutt from India for the best Asian film honours.
In the Retrospective Section, films of Ashok Amritraj will be shown. Among these, Raising Helen will be premiered in India.
IFFI will also pay homage to Vittorio Gassman, a versatile star of Italy who passed away in 2000, by screening six of his films.
Films from Africa, Poland, Germany, Canada, Egypt, Portugal and Taiwan will showcase the talent from these countries. Tributes will also be paid to filmmaker Yash Johar, Nargis Dutt, Saundarya, Vijay Anand, Bhabendra Nath Saikia and Mehmood with the screening of some of their popular films.
Though not as shrouded in controversy as the recent Mumbai International Film Festival earlier this year, in which angry documentary-makers had set up a rival film festival, after accusing a government-sponsored event of rejecting controversial films, IFFI has seen a fair amount of trouble.
Deciding the venue for the event itself saw the film fraternity divided and politicians jumped into the foray to complicate the matters further.
After being known for long as the moving or gypsy festival, as all those involved have never managed to reach a consensus on its permanent venue, Goa was fixed as the venue by the former Bharatiya Janata Party-led government in spite of much opposition.
Now that the government at the centre is supported by Left parties, lobbying for a change in the venue of the film festival was revived. In fact, even as Goa was giving finishing touches to its arrangements, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya went public with his disapproval for the choice of venue.
Those mooting for Goa to be the permanent venue for the international festival say the state’s strength is tourism, its East-meets-West culture and its beautiful greenery and beaches.
The other camp says West Bengal with its rich film culture is the ideal location for such a festival.
Incidentally, a documentary from Kolkata has emerged as a contender for the Oscar nominations.
The film titled Born Into Brothels: Calcutta’s Red Light Kids by Zana Briski and Ross Kauffman is among the 12 short-listed by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the best documentary feature Oscar.
It seems that in a bid to lend IFFI a popular and appealing face, organisers seem to have spent more time in getting on board Bollywood celebrities and less effort in making the festival a delight for its content.
Trade observer Saibal Chatterjee said the films lined up for this year could turn out to be disappointingly tepid. While the Cinema of the World section is lacklustre, the retrospectives do not bo
ast any international masterworks.
Hou Hsiao-Hsien’s films are missing from the special package of Taiwanese cinema and the festival will screen Goodbye Dragon Inn which was shown at Osian’s Cinefan in New Delh recently.
A planned tribute to the late David Lean is a lean homage with just two of his films. It will largely be India-centric fare in both the main sections and the sidebars, said Chatterjee, and the six single-film tributes are an example of tokenism run amok.
Hindi film lovers, though, will have no reason to complain.
The Indian Panorama section will feature 21 films -- six in Hindi, four in Malayalam, three each in English and Bengali, two in Marathi and one each in Assamese, Kannada and Kokborok (a language of Tripura).
The Marathi film Shwaas and Gajendra Ahire’s Not Only Mrs Raut will vie in the Indian Panorama section with M.F. Husain’s Meenaxi: Tale Of 3 Cities and Sudhir Mishra’s Chameli and Hazaaron Khwahishen Aise.
Among the non-feature films are War And Peace (Anand Patwardhan), Saanjih (Jasmine Kaur), Shantiniketan (Arun Khopkar), I Could’nt Be Your Son (Sohini Dasgupta), Invisible Parsis (Kaevan Umrigar) and Is God Deaf (Sanjivan Lal).
Not to be left behind will be popular Hindi films like Baghban, Munnabhai MBBS and Koi...Mil Gaya along with four Telugu, three Bengali and one film each in Marathi and Malayalam.
Fifty films have been selected for the Cinema Of The World section.
Four foreign films will be premiered at the festival, including three American films. They are Marc Forster’s Finding Neverland, Joseph Rubin’s The Forgotten and Brad Bird’s The Incredibles.
Indian films like American Daylight by Roger Christian, Hari Om by Ganapathy Bharat and Chai Pani by Manu Rewal will have special screenings.
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In a bid to end the year on a positive note, filmmakers linked to the box-office driven Hindi film industry are scrambling to release their products and promise blockbusters even as sparklers released to coincide with Diwali and Eid festivals continue to dazzle audiences across the country.
While Yash Chopra’s Shah Rukh Khan-Preity Zinta-Rani Mukherjee-starrer Veer-Zaara is enjoying advance booking of two weeks in most theatres, the re-released epic drama Mughal-e-Azam has had smooth sailing in the first week and seems set to pick up more pace.
Veer-Zaara may not be a record shattering blockbuster but it will not leave anyone unhappy.
Ram Gopal Varma’s Naach, though supreme cinematically and content-wise, has been rejected by people in most circuits and is likely to be taken off the marquees soon.
Aitraaz by Abbas-Mastan starring Akshaye Kumar-Kareena Kapoor-Priyanka Chopra is doing well as expected. It was marketed as a sexy film and delivers what it promises.
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The less than expected success of Veer-Zaara has definitely dampened the sentiments of the trade but the never-say-die world of Bollywood is ready with a slew of seemingly hot products like Hulchul slated to be released Nov 27. Great expectations are riding on the film by ace director Priyadarshan.
The film’s cast comprises Akshaye Khanna, Kareena Kapoor, Suniel Shetty, Jackie Shroff, Paresh Rawal, Arbaaz Khan, Arshad Warsi and Farah.
Also likely to release alongside is Ab...Bas! by director Rajesh Singh and starring Diana Hayden, Shawar Ali, Nisha Harale and Pravin Sirohi. But the big daddy in the weeks ahead will be Ab Tumhare Hawale Watan Sathiyo produced and directed by Anil Sharma.
The mammoth star cast has Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, Bobby Deol, Naghma, Kapil Sharma, Divya Khosla and Sandali Sinha.
Raincoat starring Ajay Devgan and Aishwarya Rai by and directed by the critically acclaimed Rituparno Ghosh may soon be unveiled soon. All in all, the festivities for cine-goers in this cinema-crazy world are yet to climax.
--Indo-Asian News Service
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| Manmohan Singh extends ’open invitation’ to rebel groups - Nov 22, 2004 13:22 IST |
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Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Sunday extended an open invitation to insurgent groups for talks in the restive northeastern region and said his government was willing to meet any outfit that shunned violence.
This is an open invitation to all those who have taken to arms to give up the path and to work with us to bring about peace and prosperity in all the northeastern states, the prime minister said while winding up a 24-hour visit to Manipur with a press conference at Raj Bhavan here.
The government is willing to talk to any group which shuns the path of violence and seeks a peaceful resolution of all outstanding problems.
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| Fears of split in Reliance group premature - Nov 22, 2004 13:21 IST |
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As millions of Indians are held in thrall by reports of a family feud in Reliance Industries, the country’s largest company, experts say it would be premature to talk about a split as yet.
India’s stock markets were badly wrecked on reports of ownership differences between the two brothers who control Reliance Industries, which logs about nearly $23 billion in annual revenues and has significant weightage in the benchmark share index.
At this point of time, no one is rushing to press the panic button or thinking of a split in the management of the company, said Sudhir Rao, a senior equity market analyst with Pranav Securities, a leading brokerage firm here.
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| India, China to dominate world economy: Manmohan - Nov 22, 2004 13:19 IST |
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Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Sunday said the 21st century belongs to Asia and that India and China would dominate the global economy.
This century is going to be Asia’s century and China and India are going to be major economies of this century and this is based on studies and forecasts, the prime minister said.
He was speaking at a rally organised in Assam’s main city Guwahati to inaugurate the new capital complex building.
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| Heart patients on the rise in India - Nov 22, 2004 13:19 IST |
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Heart-related ailments could become India’s biggest killer as genetic factors contribute to the country having one of the largest number of heart patients in the world, experts said Sunday.
High cholesterol, mental stress, smoking, high blood pressure, diabetes and emotional turmoil due to break up of families are some of the reasons attributed to growing number of heart patients, said Ganesh K. Mani, chairman of the Delhi Heart and Lung Institute in New Delhi.
In a recent study carried out in 16 large countries, India has bagged the dubious distinction of having the most number of heart patients, said K.K. Sethi, the institute’s vice chairman.
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| Strike call in West Bengal by Naxalite outfit - Nov 22, 2004 13:18 IST |
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The communist-ruled government of West Bengal is bracing to face a strike called Monday by a Naxalite outfit to protest the fuel price hike.
The strike called by the Communist Party of India-Marxist Leninist (Liberation) comes within a few days of the Nov 17 strike by the Socialist Unity Centre of India (SUCI).
The state, struggling for industrial resurgence, will face another strike on Dec 3 called by the opposition Trinamool Congress.
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| Northeast will be India’s gateway to the East: PM - Nov 22, 2004 13:17 IST |
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Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Sunday said India’s northeast could be the springboard for closer economic ties with neighbouring countries.
Assam and the northeast can be the springboard from which we launch into intense economic integration with our neighbours, he told a rally in Assam’s main city Guwahati organised to inaugurate the new capital complex building.
Assam can become an entry spot, a centre of commerce and trade, where goods, ideas and people from many lands meet and interact, both economically and intellectually.
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| Survivor Hall mauls Indian bowling (PROFILE) - Nov 22, 2004 13:16 IST |
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Makeshift South African opener Andrew James Hall, who scored a valiant 163 against India here Sunday, has survived five gunshots, one of them passing through his left hand, and a car hijacking in his home town of Johannesburg.
Hall, who was thrust into the opening spot for the ongoing first Test at the
Green Park after Herschelle Gibbs opted out of the tour, grabbed the opportunity with both hands as he frustrated the Indian bowlers while carving a dogged 163, his highest first-class score.
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| Manmohan moots US-type body to tackle northeast floods - Nov 22, 2004 13:15 IST |
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Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Sunday mooted the setting up of an institution on the lines of a body in the United States to tackle the annual scourge of flooding in India’s northeast.
He said the problem of floods in the northeast was not only a national issue but had international dimensions with some rivers originating in neighbouring countries and flowing into the region.
The time has come for a great leap forward in handling the gigantic task ahead of us in approaching the problem of floods that have been the scourge of Assam for centuries, Manmohan Singh told a rally in Assam’s main city Guwahati.
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| No leaks, no glitches, CAT goes off smoothly - Nov 22, 2004 13:14 IST |
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Many complained of tough questions and changed format, as over 150,000 students appeared for the Common Admission Test (CAT) across the country Sunday to gain admission to some of the top B-schools.
Both aspirants and the authorities heaved a sigh of relief, as there was no repeat of last year’s paper leak.
The anxiety surrounding the smooth conduct of exams turned out to be without basis as the exam, held in 24 cities, passed off smoothly amidst tight security. The number of aspirants registered an increase of 20 per cent over last year.
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| India inches closer to eradicating polio - Nov 22, 2004 13:12 IST |
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Over 168 million children across the country were administered polio drops Sunday - including by Congress president Sonia Gandhi - as India enters the final lap of the race to rid itself of the crippling disease.
Armed with around 170 million doses of polio vaccine, over 100,000 volunteers and government officials vaccinated children under the age of five in a bid to make the country polio-free by 2005.
Gandhi, in her capacity as chairperson of the National Advisory Council on major policy issues, including health, gave polio drops to infants at her 10, Janpath residence. It was her way of demonstrating the importance the governing coalition was giving to health issues.
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| Indian, Russian firms to jointly develop gas projects - Nov 22, 2004 13:11 IST |
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Infrastructure major GAIL (India) Limited and Russian energy giant Gazprom have entered into an agreement to jointly develop gas projects in India and overseas.
GAIL and Gazprom of Russia are in talks for cooperation to develop projects in the gas sector in India and abroad. Both companies have initialled an agreement for strategic cooperation in the hydrocarbon sector in India, Russia and other countries, an official statement said Sunday.
GAIL chairman and managing director Proshanto Banerjee and Gazprom deputy managing director A.G. Ananenkov signed the agreement during the meeting here of the Indo-Russian Joint Working Group for cooperation in the hydrocarbon sector.
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| Andrew Hall’s wife cheers as he scores ton - Nov 22, 2004 13:9 IST |
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Leanie Hall was the luckiest of the wives of South African cricketers who arrived here Sunday, as she watched her husband, opener Andrew Hall, crack his maiden Test century at the Green Park Stadium.
Others who watched the action on the second day of the first Test against India were Cindy Nel, the fiancée of Jacques Kallis, Minki van der Westhuizen, the girlfriend of captain Graeme Smith, Jill Bracewell, fiancée of Martin van Jaarsveld and Jacques Rudolph’s wife Elna.
Also here are Alison, the wife of South African team coach Ray Jennings, team manager Goolam Rajah’s spouse Poppy and Honey, wife of Gerald Majola, the chief executive officer of the United Cricket Board of South Africa.
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| Manmohan lowers rhetoric tempo ahead of Aziz’s visit - Nov 22, 2004 13:8 IST |
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Ahead of Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz’s visit to India, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Sunday sought to lower the tempo of rhetoric between the two countries and asked Pakistan not to be swayed by stray words.
On the basis of stray words we can’t say there is no flexibility, the prime minister said while chatting to journalists after a press conference at the Raj Bhavan here.
He was responding to a question about Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf’s charge of non-flexibility against India, and his threat that if India adopted a maximalist position on Kashmir, Islamabad too would revert to its old stand.
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| South Africa 398 for six against India - Nov 22, 2004 13:7 IST |
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South Africa were 398 for six wickets at tea on the second day of the first Test against India at the Green Park Stadium here Sunday.
Z. Bruyn was batting on 54 and Shaun Pollock on 12.
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| Rajesh debuts as actor in ’Santhosha’ - Nov 22, 2004 13:5 IST |
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Film: Santhosha; Cast: Rajesh, Sidhdharth, Pranathi, Anitha, Anat Nag, Chithra Shenoy, Sadhu Kokila; Director: Ramesh; Music: Prayog; Camera: Krishna Kumar; Producers: Indumathi Ramesh
Playback singer Rajesh makes his debut as an actor in Santhosha, which also introduces Sidhdharth, a Kashmiri Pandit settled in Mumbai, as the hero.
Pranathi, who has made a name from her first Malayalam film 4 the people is the heroine.
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| No breakthrough in engineers’ abduction - Nov 22, 2004 13:5 IST |
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More than two days after the abduction of two engineers in Bihar, police is yet to make a breakthrough.
The houses of several controversial figures, including Lok Jantantrik Party legislator Munna Shukla, were raided Saturday, police sources said.
Police stations all over the state had been alerted and all routes leading to Nepal had been sealed, said Inspector General of Police (Headquarters) Neelmani, who uses only one name.
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| ’Ban on music cost Mughals their empire’ - Nov 22, 2004 13:4 IST |
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A ban on music by controversial 17th century Indian emperor Aurangzeb led to the fall of his Mughal empire, a Cambridge University researcher has claimed.
Katherine Brown, a research fellow from the famed British university, said here the ban caused widespread anger and led to the collapse of the centuries-old empire.
Discussing her research paper ’Did Aurangzeb Ban Music?’ at the Khuda Baksh Khan library, Brown said the ban, imposed in 1668-69, was an important event in the history of India and Indian music.
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| Dileep’s performance in ’Kathavaseshan’ praised - Nov 22, 2004 13:3 IST |
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Dileep’s acting in his latest film Kathavaseshan was one of Malayalam cinema’s best ever performances, ace filmmaker T.V. Chandran has said.
Without doubt, I would rate Dileep’s character Gopinathan Menon as one of the best ever in Malayalam films and it is worth an award, Chandran told reporters here Sunday.
The film explores the issue of suicide, which has a high incidence rate in Kerala.
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| ’Gadar’ director, Rajasthan distributor in money dispute - Nov 22, 2004 13:2 IST |
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A film distributor from Rajasthan has sought help from police here to recover money that is allegedly owed to him by well-known director and producer Anil Sharma.
Film distributor Sanjay Suchanti came to Mumbai Saturday with police officials from Rajasthan who had an arrest warrant for the Gadar director.
Speaking from his office in Oshiwara, Suchanti said he was cheated by Anil Sharma, who had reportedly promised him that he would be given the rights to distribute the film Ab Tumhare Hawale Watan Sathiyon in Rajathan.
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| Kanpur, where four cricket captains met their ’Waterloo’ - Nov 22, 2004 13:1 IST |
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When Atul Wassan invited Bishan Singh Bedi for his marriage with Kanpur girl Sonu, the legendary Test spinner spontaneously remarked: You know, three Indian captains have met their Waterloo in Kanpur!
Bedi, a former India captain, was referring to his own marriage as well as those of the late Lala Amarnath and Sunil Gavaskar with brides from Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh’s biggest industrial town.
What Bedi did not take into account was that former Pakistan captain Zaheer Abbas too has married a woman from this city.
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