The 4th day of the Jaipur International Film Festival was commenced with the movie ‘Chandrayaan’ directed by Santhosh George Kulangara. The feature film ‘Chandrayaan’ is based on the glorious story of India’s first lunar mission. The film also highlights the vision and contribution of our former president Bharat Ratna Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam. As per the director of the film, the motion picture is in Malayalam language and it is for the time that the film is screened in Northern India. The director also shared his views by saying that he is extremely happy to find himself in the Pink City among the ‘Jaipur Rights’. The scenarios of Golcha Cinema and Chamber Bhawan are highly appreciable. In the morning itself, people were started gathering to witness the important films in both Screen 1 and Screen 2. Just after observing the enthusiasm of the people, the negative comments of the critics were simply eluded.
It is significant to note that today a special delegate group of 89 people from Mumbai will come to join the festival. In the afternoon, ’Cirkus Columbia’ the film of the Academy Award winning producer Marc Baschet was screened. Marc Baschet personally interacted with the audiences and put forward his views. The film tells us the story of Divko Buntic and how he transforms his life after years of communist rule in the country.
The screening of all the feature films was done with the 35 mm print.
In the evening, the screening of the feature film Sal (Salt) was done. The film was made in the co-production of Argentina and Chile. The film depicts the story of a writer who desperately moves on in the search of his best story. But in the quest of his story, he becomes a story himself.
In the evening itself, the screening of one more important films ‘Golchehreh’ from Iran was done. The film divulges the story of a cinema owner in Kabul, Ashraf Khan who wants to rebuild his cinema after the fall of the communist regime. But once again, everything falls apart and the Kabul ruins are burnt down in the flames of the civil wars.
Today, the screening of 42 films was done. From Rajasthan, the films those were included for screening- LOC from the director Kuldeep Saini, The End, Maa Mahne Ashok Ji Banno Hai, Kiski Kahani, Facepack, and No Rules. In the evening, the film ‘Woman Without Love’ by the legendary Spanish director Luis Bunuel was screened in the Chamber Bhawan.
The visit of new guests
In order to be the part of the festival, the producer from Hollywood Leslee Udwin and Sunanda Shetty (mother of actress Shilpa Shetty) reached Jaipur. Leslee Udwin is representing the film ‘West is West’ in the festival and the screening of the film will be done on the 31st of January at 2:45 PM at Golcha Cinema. Besides, Sunanda Shetty will represent ‘Desire- Journey of a Woman’ in the festival. Shilpa Shetty has played the lead role in the film and the screening of the film will be done tomorrow 12:15 PM. As per tomorrow’s schedule, Om Puri will come to Jaipur and join the festival on January 31st, 2012.
Red Carpet Award Ceremony
31st of January will be the closing day of the ceremony. During the Red Carpet Award Ceremony, prominent filmmakers, cinema dignitaries and jury members will give their presence and formally celebrate the closing of the festival. The major names to participate in the closing are Om Puri, Sunanda Shetty, Leslee Udwin, etc. The ceremony will be commenced at The City Palace in the eve of 31st. During the Red Carpet Award Ceremony in total 27 awards will be presented.
The completion of ‘The Merchant’ as well as Co-Production
The ending of ‘The Merchant’ (from 28th to 30th) was really interesting. All the participants wholeheartedly praised the film market. They left the closing session of the film market with anticipation that their discussions will surely deliver fruitful results in the coming period of time. The JIFF Committee will select the best film out of all the selected films in ‘The Merchant’ and it will be released as per the norms and conditions of the film market.
Today, an important discussion took place regarding the subject of ‘Indian and World Classical Cinema’. During the discussion, Marc Baschet said that JIFF is tirelessly working to preserve the identity of classical cinema and after observing the zeal of the audiences we can say that classical cinema can still sustain in the competitive market of cinema. The special focus ‘Spanish Classical Cinema’ by Luis Bunuel received critical acclaim and also accumulated a large number of audiences. It is enough to prove that there are audiences in the contemporary world starving for the classical cinema.
In the morning, Robert Popa and Andrew Vial took the workshop on film direction. In this workshop more than 90 participants confirmed their attendance.
On the closing day i.e. January 31st, the screening of 34 films will be done. The screening session will be executed by 5:00 PM and thereafter the Closing and Red Carpet Award Ceremony will be organized at The City Palace.
Dismissal
The public and media put forward some serious allegations that due to less cooperation and assistance from the State Government, the facilities and arrangements of the festival are not to the mark. But it is not true at all! There is definite participation from the people but due to more number of venues and separate arrangements for workshops and seminars, the people witnessing the festival got divided.
In addition, to encourage the participation of more number of enthusiastic people the organizing committee of JIFF offered the registration only at Rs. 250/-. For the students, the amount is only Rs. 200/- The interesting think is that even at the ‘International Film Festival of India’ in Goa conducted by the Government of India, the registration amount is Rs. 300/- It simply denotes the fact that JIFF is charging Rs. 50/- less than the most important festival conducted by the government itself. The purpose of keeping an ideal registration fee is to involve all those audiences and filmmakers who are serious about cinema and the festival itself.
Some of the media personnel also claimed that the assistance of the government is not fully granted to the festival. But kindly note that, the assistance and support from the government fully satisfactory to the organizing committee of JIFF. In the coming years, the budget will definitely increase.
On the other hand, there were 3 or 4 people who tried to cast the pattern of the festival as per their own interest. But it is definitely not possible. The JIFF committee believes in keeping the things fully transparent and there will not be misuse of public’s money under any of the circumstances. Some of the people unethically asked money from the organizers but they were denied merely to preserve the valuable contribution of the public and invest the money in the right cause and uphold the ethics of the festival.
The Jaipur International Film Festival is solely dedicated to the filmmakers and the film lovers. The criticism and allegations have their own place. But if we talk from the perspective of the foreign media then JIFF is receiving a huge acclaim overseas.
Yours sincerely
