IFFI 2023: Filmmaker Arvind Sinha takes a dig at Karan Johar, says 'Taxpayers money shouldn't be spent on him'

Bollywood is making its way into film festivals like IFFI through money and it’s unfair on independent filmmakers who need government support and a platform to promote their work, said veteran documentary filmmaker Arvind Sinha on Tuesday.

Sinha heads the non-feature film section of Indian Panorama at the ongoing International Film Festival of India (IFFI), which opened on Monday evening here in Panaji.

“What is to be promoted (through IFFI) is good cinema. Bollywood has its own money, finance, muscle power, through all these things they are getting into these spaces,” the renowned documentary filmmaker told reporters here.

Sinha said it is not the fault of Bollywood but people “who are making the decision should have clarity that public taxpayers money should not be spent on filmmakers like Karan Johar as he has a lot of money.” “They ( IFFI organisers) have to support the documentary filmmakers, feature filmmakers who need support. There are no rajas-maharajas to support the artists, the government should support any work of art… “Why should these spaces be given to those who already have everything? They don’t need support from the government. What are they doing here? The film festival is not for them. The film festival should be for good cinema,” the director said in a reference to the heavy Bollywood presence at the ceremony on Monday. Actors Shahid Kapoor and Madhuri Dixit performed at the opening event. Dixit was also honoured with the Special Recognition for Contribution to Bharatiya Cinema Award at the ceremony, hosted by Karishma Tanna and Aparshakti Khurana. Also present were Vijay Sethupathi, Karan Johar, Sara Ali Khan, Pankaj Tripathi, Shantanu Moitra, Jissu Sengupta, Shriya Saran, Divya Dutta, and Shreya Ghoshal. Johar and Khan unveiled the first look of their upcoming film “Ae Watan Mere Watan” last night. Fronted by Khan, the movie is set against the backdrop of 1942’s Quit India Movement. Directed by Kannan Iyer and produced by Johar’s Dharmatic Entertainment, “Ae Watan Mere Watan” will arrive on Prime Video. The teams of “Ae Watan Mere Watan” and “The Archies” also had special sessions at the movie gala. Speaking about the entries for the Indian Panorama section, Sinha said the number of films had increased this time but one can’t say the same about quality. The segment was introduced in 1978 as part of the IFFI umbrella to promote Indian films along with India’s rich culture and heritage with the help of cinematic art. “The quantity has increased but quality has not really kept up with the quantity. It would have been nice, if quality wise also, it would have gone up. But that is the trend that did not happen,” he said.

The official selection of the Indian Panorama consists of 25 feature films and 20 non-feature films which will be screened at the 54th IFFI. “Andro Dreams” is opening the non-feature film section, which will also showcase titles including “1947: Brexit India”, “Baasan”, “Back To The Future”, “Behrupiya – The Impersonator”, “Nansei Nilam”, “Pradakshina”, and “The Sea & Seven Villages”.