IFFI 51, Goa, 16-24 January, 2021, 01: India's eagerly-awaited cinema fest coming-up soon, in testing times 51st IFFI, scheduled for 16th -24th January 2021, is coming-up in less than two weeks. It is organised, as usual, by the Indian Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, through the Directorate of Film Festivals (DFF), Government of India, in collaboration with the Government of Goa, through the Entertainment Society of Goa (ESG), and the Indian Film Industry. International Film Fe...

Shimla Mirchi, Review: Chilly? Don't be silly! Several highs dot the career graph of director Ramesh Sippy, right from his debut in 1971 as a 24 year-old, with the remake of A Man and a Woman (Claude Lelouch, France, 1966) under the title, Andaz. Crests include Seeta Aur Geeta, Sholay and Buniyaad (TV series), relative high points were reached with Saagar and Shakti, and troughs bogged him down when he attempted Shaan, Bhrashtachar, Akayla and Zamaana Diwana. Completed 19 years after Zama...

IFFI 50: Ceremonial closing As the sun set over the river Mandovi in Goa, on the 28th of November, 2019, the 50th edition of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) rolled out the red carpet for the closing ceremony. The spectacular, star studded closing ceremony brought the nine day festivities of 200 odd screenings, master classes, in-conversation sessions, and more, to a fitting climax. Gracing the valedictory ceremony, Babul Supriyo, Union Minister of State for Environment, Fores...

IFFI 50, X: International Jury for IFFI 2019 has Bailey, Campillo, Yang, Ramsay and Sippy John Bailey, Cinematographer and Ex-President of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (the body that awards the Oscars) will chair the International Jury of 50th International Film Festival of India (IFFI). French film-maker Robin Campillo, who was also a member of the Cannes International Jury 2019, renowned Chinese film-maker Zhang Yang and Ms. Lynne Ramsay, who is one of the leading lights...

Siraj Syed reviews Beauty and the Beast: A veritable feast Beauty and the Beast is a treat for young and old alike, with generous doses of humour and an enchanting musical score to go with it. It is not often that you see a kettle, a tea-cup and saucer, a dressing stool, a wardrobe, a piano, an antique clock, a floating, curvaceous  plumage and a candelabra (no, that’s definitely not a typo)  share screen space with the titular duo, that happen to be Beauty and Beast in this c...

FICCI conference: Digital content economy poised to see exponential growth Digital content specialists outlined the future of India’s digital economy at a conference, organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, FICCI, in association with the Los Angeles India Film Council (LAIFC), last week, at the Taj Land’s End Hotel, Mumbai.  Fast Track India: Bolstering Growth in the Digital Content Economy, a Knowledge Series forum by the Federation of India...

MFF 17, by Jio-MAMI, Festival Diary, IV At film festivals, the experience of watching films is like no other. You have many choices, depending on the venue, and the option of walking out of one ‘bad’ film into another unknown entity, just next door, trying pot-luck. Advance booking, the norm at MFF, means that you might never ever succeed in getting a ticket, given that the number of delegates and media-persons always far outweighs the number of seats available, often by 3:1 or 4:...

FICCI FRAMES 2015, Part II At the inaugural session of FICCI FRAMES 2015, the government of India held out the assurance that it would address upfront the challenges before the media and entertainment sector, such as emerging technologies giving way to new media platforms, great diversification of content, industry trying out new business and revenue models and the fact that today every youngster was keen on installing and using mobile phone applications. “These are exciting times for ...