IFFI: Indian Panorama Announced
The seven member Jury for Feature Films, headed by Shri K. N. T. Sastry, has recommended 25 films in all after screening 104 films. The films selected are:
S. No. TITLE LANGUAGE DIRECTOR
1. YARWING KOKBOROK JOSEPH PULINTHANATH
2. SUMMER 2007 HINDI SUHAIL TATARI
3. VILAPANGALKKAPPURAM MALAYALAM T.V. CHANDRAN
4. GULMOHAR MALAYALAM JAYARAJ
5. KALLOORI TAMIL BALAJI SAKTHIVEL
6. KANACHIVARAM TAMIL S. PRIYADARSHAN
7. DOHAA MARATHI PUSHKARAJ PARANJAPE
8. GULABI TALKIES KANNADA GIRISH KASARVALLI
9. ATAYALANGAL MALAYALAM M G SASI
10. BANADA NERALU KANNADA UMASHANKARA SWAMY
11. LITTLE ZIZOU ENGLISH/GUJRATIHINDI SOONI TARAPOREVALA
12. CHATURANGA BENGALI SUMAN MUKHOPADHYAY
13. MAHASATTA MARATHI RAMESH LAXMAN MORE
14. ORU PENNUM RANDAANUM MALAYALAM ADOOR GOPALAKRI SHNAN
15. MUDHAL MUDHAL MUDHAL VARAI TAMIL KRISHNA SESHADRI GOMATAM
16. AAKASHAGOPURAM MALAYALAM MANU S. KUMARAN
17. GUBBACHIGALU KANNADA ABHAYA SIMHA
18. MON JAI ASSAMESE M.MANIRAM
19. MEE SREYOBHILASHI TELUGU V.ESHWAR REDDY
20. KATHA PARAYUMPOL MALAYALAM MOHANAN
21. A WEDNESDAY HINDI NEERAJ PANDEY
22. JODHA AKBAR HINDI ASHUTOSH GOWARIKER
23. TAARE ZAMEEN PAR HINDI AAMIR KHAN
24. VALU MARATHI UMESH VINAYAK KULKARNI
25. BILLA TAMIL VISHNU VARDHAN
‘Pulijanmam’ (Malayalam), the winner of Best Feature Film awards during 54th National Film Awards gets automatic entry into Indian Panorama in addition to the above films. The Jury has recommended ‘Yarwing’ a film in Kokborok language of Tripura as the inaugural film for Indian Panorama. ‘Kanachivaram’ (Tamil) and ‘Mahasatta’ (Marathi) have been recommended for the Competition Section of International Film Festival of India-2008.
The Jury for Non-Feature Films has recommended 20 films out of 82 entries. The selected films in the Non-Feature Film category of Indian Panorama are:
S. No TITLE LANGUAGE DIRECTOR
1. THE SHOP THAT SOLD EVERYTHING BENGALI ABHYUDAY KHAITAN
2. DHIN TAK DHA HINDI SHRADDHA PASI
3. THREE OF US MUSIC ONLY UMESH KULKARNI
4. VELLAPPOKKATHIL MALAYALAM JAYARAJ
5. PUTTI KANNADA JACOB VARGHESE
6. PARWAAZ URDU BIJU VISHWANATH
7. YEARN TO LEARN BENGALI S.K. ABOUL RAJJAK
8. A FRIEND TURNED FOE ENGLISH GAUTAM SAIKIA
9. DISTANT RUMBLINGS ENGLISH BANI PRAKASH DAS
10. DIVIDED COLOURS OF A NATION ENGLISH UMESH AGGARWAL
11. FOUR WOMEN AND A ROOM ENGLISH AMBARIEN AL QADAR
12. THE JOURNALIST AND THE JIHADI ENGLISH RAMESH SHARMA
13. THE LAND OF RUPSHUPAS ENGLISH A.K. SIDHPURI
14. APNA ALOO BAZAAR BECHA HINDI PANKAJ H. GUPTA
15. CHILDREN OF THE PYRE HINDI RAJESH S.JALA
16. ANTARDHWANI HINDI JABBAR PATEL
17. REMEMBERING BIMAL ROY HiNDI, BENGALI, EngLISH JOY BIMAL ROY
18. MEMORIES,MOVEMENT AND A MACHINE MALYALAM K.R. MANOJ
19. RATAN THIYAM THE MAN OF THEATRE MANIPURI NIRMALA CHANU & OKEN AMAKCHAM
20. REHANA: A QUEST FOR FREEDOM ENGLISH GARGI SEN & PRIYaNKA MUKHERJEE
‘Bishar Blues’ (Bengali), also enters the Non-Feature Film segment of Indian Panorama by virtue of being the Best Non-Feature film of 54th National Film Awards. The five member Non-Feature Film Jury was headed by Shri Anjan Bose.
(Please note: the list does not mention it, but No. 21 onwards in the feature film list is a ‘mainsteram window’ – five chosen out of 11 proposed by Film Federation of India – in lieu of the now-discontinued Indian Mainstream section)
Tags: IFFI, Indian Panorama, International Film Festival of India
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
Where is freakin ‘Subramaniapuram’?
and Billa? OMG what the hell is happenin?
Summer 2007 and Billa in the list??? Geez.
yuck list! this is what i call a govt organised event
Summer 2007 was a Rang De Basanti wannabe. Shame that its on the Indian Panorama.
Holy Fuck!
Not a single Telugu “mainstream” offering barring #19!!! For all their flaws TZP, and Jodhaa Akbar were as mainstream as you could get. If Telugu filmdom “boasts” of making films for “youth”, “family audiences”, and “mass” with sister, mother, father sentiments and full meal fare which roughly translates into “mainstream”, how come no single entry?!
May we have the complete list of the Jury Board?
Hi. No jury decision would obviously be liked by everybody. I too have a few issues with the Panorama selection, but feel ultimately it is a subjective decision which has to be accepted by and large. If the six people who have responded with comments are made part of the jury, their decisions too will be questioned, and it happens everytime there is a jury.
But that apart, Here’s my response to some of the comments:
Jaiganesh: Subramaniapuram, I have heard, is great, though I have not seen it. It might not have been entered for the competition – I will be sure when I get the complete list of entries that I am trying to procure. See, for entry into Panorama, the qualifying dates (as per censor certification date) are between Sept 1 of the previous year and Aug 31 of this year. If a film is censored after that, it can apply next year. I found out – Nandita Das’ Firaaq and Nishikant Kamat’s Mumbai Meri Jaan weren’t entered – in both cases, I think, because they were not censored within those dates. the same was the case with welcome to sajjanpur, I guess. So, these films will compete next year.
jaiganesh/Ratnakar: Yes, Summer 2007 is questionable from my point of view too. but billa came in through the mainstream window (please see my comment at the bottom of the list within brackets). Incidentally, nobody here, including so many filmmakers who write on and read PFC, have not taken up the more important issue – of there being a quota for mainstream within the Panorama post abolition of Indian Mainstream section in IFFI. This is absolutely wrong – cinema should be counted as either good or bad, and there should not be a quota system like this. This step is retrogressive for Indian cinema, to say the least. Films like Valu, TZP and A Wednesday, in spite of their flaws, could have got selected even without this quota. Now what is happening is that 5 out of 11 are chosen in Panorama for being ‘mainstream’ (as proposed by FFI), while the rest about 100 would compete for the remaining 20 slots. Is that a good idea to promote good cinema? Films like Lagaan, DCH and Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam have been part of the Panorama even while being hardcore mainstream.
Vijay / Utpal Datta: The event is govt organized, but the jury comprises film people. The ones in the jury this year (I hope I am not missing out on any name were: K N T Sastry (chairman), Shashi Paravoor, Gautam Bora, Chitra Palekar (all directors), Satarupa Sanyal (actress), Namrata Joshi (film critic) and Hasana Raghu (Kannada film industry, he has been a stunt coordinator, if I am not wrong) .
Santosh: The mainstream films (serial No. 21 onwards, though it is not mentioned in the official press release, which I think is a wrong thing to do), are selected from among the maximum 11 proposed by FFI, so a film to come in has to be in that shortlist. This time, I understand, FFI proposed just 7 films.
santosh kumar t. k
i have to confess, i was selected as the jury member, i really wanted to go see and help get a couple of Telugu films there in the list. but i couldn’t go because of the new film i am working on.
after seeing the list, i feel i should have been there. sad..
in the last twelve years (#19!!!)this is the 2nd film in the panorama section…
It looks that some of the visitors who have remarked against Summer 2007, do not know the ABC of film industry and it’s ultimate obejctive. “Summer 2007″ was the only film in last year which have really touched the bottom of the hearts and have send a revolutionary message to audiance as well as to political leadership. Jury has done the justice with “Summer 2007″ and it would have been better if it was placed at number one.
All the best “Summer 2007″.
billa is the worst crap made ever
Ratnesh…I get your point and have no doubts that Summer 2007 had its heart in the right place. But the execution was so tacky. And we’re talking about a cinema festival here. Not a festival of motivational works. If you look at the context, Summer 2007 should not be in the Indian Panorama.
Just my 2 cents.
Response from The Narcissit is accepting the fact(s) in first sentence. But remember that cinema (movies) should get the respectable in INDIAN PANORAMA which has motivational power in addition to the entertainment. In today’s era when cinema seems to be toally commercialised, Suhail and Atul have done some extraordinary work. Keep it up !
In reply to Narcissist, would just like to narrate a story. Once, Johannes Itten, painter and art theoretician, showed his 1920 class at the famous Bauhaus school the weeping Mary Magdalene from the Grunewald Altar. The students studied it for 3 hours and tried to extract its basic elements from the complex maze. When Itten comes back, he looks at their efforts and storms out of class. He screams, after looking at the weeping Mary Magdalene for 3 hours, if they are sensitive artists they should have been crying and not sketching.
I know the selections always get the flak, largely deserved!!! And this from me, who worked as the chairman of the jury.
Billa in Panorama ? I am twisting and turning myself. But since mainstream — read box office hits of the period — are perforce to be selected and we were given a list, from the worst lot we had to chose 5, and this explains whyfilms like Jodha Akbar and Billa are there. Summer 07 — well, there is a jury which works as democratically as our frmovracy works. When the majority of the members want it, no one can help. Chairman has no veto power, and when he tried, there were even tears!!! As far as Telugu films were concerned, since I come from Telugu background I have to explain that even in the mainstream list, you could not find one, making me wonder whethere there was not even one box office hit in HYderabad? They do not like to participate in festivals or they just do not know anything about Panoramas and festivals. Sorry state of affiars … Abd as far as the art of filmmaking in Telugu, it is drea, which will never come true.
But all said and done, remove the chaff, we still have a good number of around 15 good films in the list. Enjoy the fare.
It is also time to raise voice against the stupid mandate of including box office hits into panorama list. Pl do not blame jury for this.
Mr Sastry has explained it all. Hopefully, other jury members too will respond to his comments. My points in this regard are:
1. Why should there be a quota for ‘mainstream’ films in Panorama following the disbanding of the Indian Mainstream section of IFFI last year? Either revive that section or let all films compete for entry into the Panorama on an equal footing. I am sure all right-thinking film lovers / makers will agree to this – and will oppose this retrogressive step that has been introduced in the Indian Panorama – remember it is supposed to showcase the best of Indian cinema. Anyway, the maximum no of films in Panorama has been increased from 21 to 25 consequent to this decision. So, let everyone compete on an equal footing.
Now what is happening is that 20 films were selected out of the 104 entries that came in (plus Priyanandan’s Malayalam film Pulijanmam for being the Best Feature Film award winner at th eNational Award, which every year happens to be an automatic selection), while 5 are selected out of maximum 11 suggested by FFI. where is the balance, can anyone tell us?
PS: mainstream films like Lagaan, Dil Chahta Hai, Hum dil De Chuke sanam (I just offhand remembered these Hindi films, but I am sure there have been mainstream ones from regional languages too) have got selected to the Panorama earlier fighting with other entries on an equal footing. Why shouldn’t mainstream films continue to do that? Why should there be any distinction at all – films are supposed to be just good or bad, isn’t it?
2. While announcing the Panorama, the Press Information Bureau (PIB) of the INformation & Broadcasting Ministry did not mention that a certain number of films came through a separate system – this has led to a lot of misgivings / confusion about the Panorama selection and even led to questioning of the jury’s decision. the official announcement should and must tell people about the distinction – there is nothing to hide here, and anyway, if one tries to hide, it won’t be possible in this age of RTI.
3. Five mainstream films are to be selected out of maximum possible 11 recommendations by the FFI as per the new system. If I am not wrong this year even FFI sent the names of only 7 films – does this mean even FFI could not find 11 mainstream films of enough ’standard’ from all over India to recommend? How did it shortlist these 7 films – on the basis of Box Office performance, quality or a mix of both – what is the exact system of selection/ was there a selection jury formed by FFI to do the task? FFI should explain why it failed to recommend 11 films as it was mandated to do so – particularly as at least 700 of the 900-plus films made every year in India would fall in the ‘mainstream’ category. Was the standard (as set by FFI) so bad that FFI could not pre-select 11 films out of all these films?
4. One question (to all those concerned, and in this case to Mr Sastry) with reference to the comment that “But all said and done, remove the chaff, we still have a good number of around 15 good films in the list.” Why should a jury select films just to complete the numbers (in this case a maximum of 21) if there are not enough good films. It’s ok if one or two films are selected for being, say by a new filmmaker who shows some kind of promise though the film may not be outstanding, but is it fair to select 5-6 films like that? Does not that lower the standard of the Panorama section?
5. Mr Sastry, yes, like you said, any jury will be criticised for whatever decision it takes. And like you said, filmmakers should think rationally and unitedly say that this quota system won’t work. Aren’t those who are coming through this route are already accepting that they cannot compete on an equal footing. Wouldn’t films like TZP or Valu be part of any Panorama selection even if they compete with all entries on an equal footing – I think they would – and that’s how it should be.
bTW, with reference to Vijay’s comment “yuck list! this is what i call a govt organised event” – have you seen all the films in Panorama to give such a comment. I have seen some, and they are really good and sincere cinema. If you have reservations about some films, please specify so that we all know and can share our views. Don’t vilify the jury just because the IFFI / Indian Panorama is organized by the government – the jury often comprises people of good standing (just go through the jury lists for national awards and Indian Panorama of the past – and yes, though some of the jury members’ credentials could be questioned), though we may not even then agree with some of their decisions, which is only normal human behaviour, especially when it comes to any form of creative art, and more so when it comes to a passionate art form like cinema.
Unfortunately, nobody has till now even commented about the non-feature part of Indian Panorama. Seems on PFC, everyone is concerned about just feature films….
Hey Utpal! As always there will be issues with the jury decision. But having been on the other side (Indian panorama selection) for the first time (I have till now only been part of the critics jury at Trivandrum and Moscow festivals) I have to agree with what Mr Sastry has to say. It is democracy, you vote, you put forward your views, argue with dignity and then let the numbers decide the course of things. In our jury we have had members with varying experiences, sensibilities and approaches but we struck complete unanimity on 14 films which appear as the first 14 in your list. Some like Yarwing and Mahasatta made on miniscule budgets and with limited resources are a revelation. Little Zizou is delightful and charming. Gulabi Talkies is very heart warming. Kanachivaram shows a totally different Priyadarshan from what we have encountered in Hera Pheri or Hulchal. So I think its unfair of some of you to be dismissive and call the list “yuck” without so much as having seen any of them. Unfair not to the jury but to the filmmakers who have made films with a certain passion and commitment. Give them a chance.
Of course in the entire process some good films did get a short shrift, like Subramaniapuram, which I personally think is a fabulously path-breaking effort and will surely win laurels in other forums. This cannot be the end of the road for it.
Someone mentioned the paucity of Telegu films. Well, must confess that the ones we saw were uniformally appalling, very very bad. Either good films are not being made in Andhra or the good ones are not being entered for selection.
FFI films is something government seriously needs to relook into. I think mainstream films should be entered in the main category and compete with the rest of the films. It’s stupid to strictly categorise cinema as mainstream or art house, we have to be inclusive not exclusivist. This time FFI had given us seven films to pick from while there were some mainstream films in the main section (like Johnny Gaddar) which were any day better than their list. That should explain the presence of Billa…
As for Summer 2007 wonder why we are finding it tacky? Is it because it doesn’t look “smart”? Is it because it doesn’t display technical flourishes, narrative ingenuity and spiffy editing? As story-telling it’s straight, simple, sincere, sensitive, powerful and very very moving. It’s significant in highlighting an important and much ignored social issue of the day. I think it’s one of the most under-rated Hindi films of 2008, focusing on a problem–that of farmer’s suicide in Vidarbha and many many other areas–which the national media itself has been shunning, save an unrelenting P. Sainath. At a time when our Hindi films (even the good, mainstream, multiplex efforts) are largely showcasing the urbane, rootless, urban sensibility, here’s one film which is rooted, brings an alternate universe into the frame of Hindi cinema. Why are we so appalled at seeing the other side of Indian Shining, which is not so shining afterall? And how do you tell a story which is so rough and painful? Perhaps by being tacky (whatever the word means)…
One thing which we voiced together as a jury to the minister which is more important than the individual films themselves…
That it should be mandatory for DD to show the panorama films. We are living in times when DVD accessibility has created a vibrant film awareness. We have TV channels bringing us films from across the globe, not just Hollywood. Pity then that though we may know a lot about Korean or Chinese cinema but we’d be clueless about a film made by a Malayali priest in Kokborok language in Tripura. We are unaware of the cinematic churning happening in our own houses and backyards. Even as journos we only get to see these films rarely, at film festivals alone. Perhaps a comprehensive regional language film channel, with sub-titled movies is the answer…
Cheers,
Namrata Joshi…
Out of 25,six are malayalam films.It is great to see that Malayalam is still continuing its tradition of making good films.But unfortunately very few people watch these movies,so even among many urban youth,malayalam films means soft porn movies(Shakeela movies) which is rather unfortunate.As far as Telugu industry is concerned,it is sad to say that inspite of big budgets(after hindi) quality of films are pretty poor and that is rightly reflected in this
selection.
As rightly pointed out by NAMRATA JOSHI P Sainath of “The Hindu” was the lone voice who was regularly voicing the real reasons behind farmer suicides in Vidharbha.Since I haven’t watched ’summer 2007′,I can’t comment on the artistic merit of that film.But at same time I do not agree with NAMRATA JOSHI’s views on summer2007 since I do not subscribe to the view that it is the duty of filmmakers to highlight social issues.A filmmaker is basically an artist unlike a journalist whose duty is to find the truth.I feel that a film’s selection should be based on its artistic merit rather than whether it highlighted a social issue or not since it might be the view of that particular filmmaker and need not necessarily be the truth.
‘Summer of 2007′ is among this year’s best films. Despite a wrong lead actor it works big time. The second half is fantastic, with great performances by Ashutosh Rana, Vikram Gokhale, Prroshant Narayannan and Gul Panag.
There is a wonderful scene where Sachin Khedkar explains the concept of micro-lending to debt-ridden villagers. (Reminds one of Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus’s Grameen Bank initiative in Bangladesh.) Never expected to see this kind of thing in a modern Hindi film that has all but washed its hands of the rural.
There has been a tendency to compare this film with ‘Rang De Basanti’ and then dismiss it. A strange reaction because RDB is a vastly inferior film, any day.
Thanks Rocky, finally someone said it. Something I have held even against some critics who have compared the 2 fims. RDB is a vastly inferior, reactionary, juvenile film compared to Summer 2007.
Hi all, i am the producer of Summer 2007. I am ahere as i am tremendously moved by what Namrata Joshi has written.
I think its important to present some facts to the guys who continue to make unreasonable statements about Summer 2007. I have faced a lot of wrath for making this film. My co-producers, distributors and marketing company really mistreated this film. We got only a total of 338 shows all over India, thats it. Compare it with reported 5000 shows a day for a remake film called Karz – by same distribution and marketing company. We were told that the film has to be promoted only as a romantic story as the core content of the film does not work for the audience.
Our film was slaughtered by the so called biggies of the industry. How and why did i make this film? Me and my friend & director of the film Suhail chose a story that is about the most pertinent issue modern India faces today. It is not a commercial film, i was not attempting to make quick buck by telling a story of poor farmers and pathetic social conditions in rural India. We believed in a cause and did our best to tell a tale which made sense. You guys do know how difficult it is mobilise resources and to produce films with a story, new comers and no titilation. I cant demand it but i deserve a fair trial for the choice of cinema i made. Small producers like me come and leave the industry every week, some of us make decent films and some dont but this is an important film in the face of whatever is happening around us in current socio-economic milieu. If people like me are ridiculed for making socially relevent films, we will just vanish into stupor and not many will dare to make sensible cinema.
I truly admire and thank people like Namrata Joshi, Rocky, prophet etc. to give me strength to consider making another releven film else i would have just walked away quietly.