PIFF 2010

7th January 2010

The 8th Pune International Film Festival was flagged off with grandeur to the foot tapping music by Sudesh Bhosale and his son, Sidhant Bhosale who mesmerized the audiences by performing some of the finest numbers of Dev Anand and Rajesh Khanna.

Mr. Suresh Kalmadi, Chairman PIFF, addressed the audience. The glitterati included the evergreen icon of Indian cinema, Mr. Dev Anand, Dr. Shreeram Lagoo, Mr. Rajesh Khanna, Mr. Subhash Ghai, Mr. Jackie Shroff, Ms. Konkona Sen Sharma, Pt. Shiv Kumar Sharma, Ms. Mugdha Godse, Mr. Rahul Bose, Beena Paul (Artistic Director IIFK India), Mr. Resul Pookutty (Slumdog Millionaire fame), Mr. Sunil Tadkare, Minister of State for Finance, Hon. Mayor of Pune, Mr. Ramesh Bagwe, Minister of Home, Maharashtra, Mr. Robert Reece (an eminent director from the USA), and Ms. Diane Merchant (France).

This edition witnessed the introduction of a new award, the "S.D Burman Award for Creative Sound and Music", which was bestowed on Shri Pyarelalji of the famous Laxmikant-Pyarelal duo. 52 countries reflected their socio-political and cultural angle through aesthetics and new trends in cinema.Dr. Sheeram Lagoo and Mr. Rajesh Khanna were honoured with the Life Time Achievement Award for their remarkable contribution to Indian Cinema.

This year’s festival focused on the importance of Music and Lyrics in Cinema and a Retrospective of eminent director Shri Bimal Roy, whose birth centenary falls in 2010, was aptly screened throwing light on some of his finest works. A poster exhibition had also been organized with more than 150 Hindi Film posters were exhibited at the NFAI for public viewing throughout the course of the festival. This exhibition was organized at the Ghole Road art gallery.

The Opening Film was from Iran titled ‘Darbaraye Elly’ (About Elly) by Asghar Farhadi (2009).This is a story about a group of family and friends who take a vacation together and the life changing events that take place while on this trip.

8th January 2010

Highlight of this day was a workshop conducted by Oscar Winner Resul Pookuty . A FTII alumni, Pookuty focused on the importance of sound in Cinema. During the course of the workshop he interacted with the audience and congratulated the orgnisers of PIFF for bringing it all together on a single platform.

The opening of the Cuban film section at PIFF marked the advent of Cuban cinema as a substantial part of world cinema. Ambassador of Cuba, Miguel Angel Ramirez Ramos addressed the audience on this occasion. Ciudad en Rojo (City in Red) by Rebecca Chavez was screened right after the opening of the Cuban section.

Critically acclaimed films like Natrang, Rita, Do Bigha Zameen, Los Abrazos Rotos(Broken Embraces) and Applaus were screened at various venues.

9th January 2010

A press conference by Dr Sheeram Lagoo was a journey down memory lane for him from being a student to practicing ENT and finally pursuing his dream of being an actor. He spoke on his dichotomous life when he found himself torn between his medical practice and his passion for theatre. He continued, “The first time I acted in a play was in 1st year. I discovered myself and fell in love with the business of acting. Through the 5 years of medicine I did many more plays than actual studies.”

A workshop by music composer Shri Pyarelalji of the Laxmikant-Pyarelal duo was organized at the Ghole Road art gallery. He spoke about his music in Indian Cinema and how composition and melody plays an important role in film music.

Significant films screened were Ek Cup Chya, El Nido Vacio (Empty Nest ) and Slepa Pega ( Blind spot).

10 January 2010

A press conference by the cast and crew of marathi film Ek Cup Chya based on the Right to Information Act was organized. Directors Sumitra Bhave and Sunil Sukhtankar addressed the media. They shared their experience of making the film and also threw light on the issue of RTI.

At another press conference of ‘Rafi- we remember you’ director Kuldeep Sinha elicited facets of the musical genius’ life, whose limitless capacity left an entire nation spellbound. Sharing the platform with him, were Dr. Jabbar Patel, Mr. Manohar and Mr Santosh Unecha, associate director of PIFF.

Later towards the evening a workshop by the Showman Mr. Subhash Ghai set the mood in favour of the festival’s gaiety. He spoke about his films presenting examples of how he used music and lyrics to move his narrative forward. He praised Pune’s rich cultural and literary heritage and urged the youngsters to preserve them making the city a national pride.

11 January 2010

Day five of the PIFF 2010 began on a very intellectually stimulating note. A press conference with the director of the Romanian film, Cea Mai Fericita Fata Din Lume discussed the film and also the Romanian film industry.

A musical workshop by Mr. Shantanu Moitra, music composer of films like Parineeta spoke about how film music has evolved over a period of time. Through his workshop, he highlighted the brilliance of Mr. Bimal Roy and his ability to understand music, how choreography was an innate part of rhythm, and how some of the classics such as Madhumati and Bandini adopted this style.

12 January 2010

A press conference for the cast and crew of Agnidivya was organized. The film is an adaptation of Khanolkar’s novel, the film is set for a re-release.

Films based on women’s issues like Kunku, Rihaai and Umbartha have always been appreciated by Maharashtrian audiences. Rita can be classified in the same genre as it tries to portray the relationship between women and society. Especially the latter's treatment of the "other" woman. The press conference brought out many aspects discussed in the film as part of women’s issues not in a feministic format but by keeping the larger interest in picture. Rita is a film about human relationships originally written by Smt. Shanta Gokhale. It is quite surprising that a story written in 1993 is still relevant almost more than a decade later.

Dr. Jabbar Patel introduced Mr. Pankaj Rag, Director, FTII as a “historian” in the exceptionally informative workshop on “Music and Cinema.” Mr. Pankaj Rag listed the issues that music recording faced back in 1903. He discussed the “socio-political consciousness as a thematic challenge in Indian Film Music.

13 January 2010

Day six saw a series of press conferences of promising Marathi films like Natrang, Pangira and Vihir. Personalities like Mohan Agashe, Renuka Shahane and Atul Kulkarni addressed the media, discussed the scope of Marathi cinema and its changing face. All implied a common motto of “Think local and act global”

A workshop on branding and marketing of films was organized to understand the business of cinema. The extremely packed workshop began with P9 Media Integrated from Mumbai, addressing the audience on "Product Placement" in films, in-film branding and buying space in media for movies. They talked about how the opening days of any movie is extremely important and more or less decides its fate at the Box Office, with some exceptions.

As Mr. Ajay Sarpotdar, President of Akhil Bhartiya Marathi Chitrapath Maha Mandal mentions, the core area of branding and marketing of a movie remains in gathering the audience. Apart from that, the publicity design and the audience impact remain of prime importance.

14 January 2010

The final day of the PIFF 2010 was the most eventful day in the week long festival. Morning saw press conferences on Marathi films like Jhin Chik Jhin and Gosht Choti Dingra Evdhi.

Evening marked the closing ceremony of the festival with various awards being given to directors and films under various categories. Guests present at the occasion were actors Lara Dutta and Arjun Rampal. Chief Minister of Maharashtra Ashok Chavan was the guest of honour for the evening.

The Sant Tukaram Award for best Marathi Film was given to Director Ravi Jadhav for Natrang and the Akhil Bharatiya Chitrapat Maha Mandal Cash Award was given to FTII alumni Director – Mr. Umesh Kulkarni for his film Vihir. He has also won awards for his Diploma film Girni at various festivals. The best actor was awarded to Atul Kulkarni for his sterling performance in Natrang. Ms. Renuka Shahane bagged the award for best screenplay for her film Rita. This ceremony took place at the Bal Gandharva Rang Mandir amidst great fanfare and memories of a festival that will repeat its success in the coming years.

In the International Competition section, awards were given to the Producers Messrs. Mike Downey and Sam Taylor and Director Dominic Murphy for the film White Lightning. The Best Director award went to Ms. Maria Prochazkova for the film Who Is Afraid of The Wolf while a trophy for Special Jury award went to Ms Paprika Steen, the actress of the film Applaus (Denmark). A special mention was recommended by the Jury to The Happiest Girl In The World (Romania) and Forbidden Fruit (Finland).

Ghadyalancha Dawakhana (The Watch Clinic), directed by Vikrant Pawar, student of the Film and Television Institute of India, bagged the Best Film award of the Whistling Woods International Students Film Competition Live Action (Short Film). The award for the Best Animated film-International initiated by the Whistling Woods International Student Film competition went to Inka Bola made by the students of Gobelins Lecole de Limage, Paris. The award for the Best Animated Film-Indian was given to the film Bejinxed made by the students of the Whistling Woods.