 "IFFI 2023: From Salman Khan to Michael Douglas to Karan Johar to Vijay Sethupathi, the festival was a treat for fans")
The 54th edition of International Film Festival of India ended on a high note with one of the top Hollywood actors Michael Douglas, his actress wife Catherine Zeta Jones and stalwarts from various film industries from across the globe attending one of the oldest film festivals of South Asia.
The Persian film ‘Endless Borders’ by Abbas Amini won the Golden Peacock Award for best film and Michael Douglas was honoured with Satyajit Ray Lifetime Achievement Award, while ‘Drift’ by Anthony Chen received the ICFT-UNESCO Gandhi Medal. Rishab Shetty’s Kantara won the special jury mention and Deepak Mishra’s Panchayat 2 got the best series in the OTT section which was the new addition in this year’s IFFI. The participation this year was much higher with more than 13000 delegates attending the festival. The information and broadcasting minister Anurag Thakur announced the hike in incentives for foreign films with added perks if India is highlighted in it. The biggest achievement was the third edition of 75 creative minds where 20 talents got placed in various industry firms.
The entire south film industry was represented with all top actors making their presence felt on the red carpet. Vijay Sethupathi not only had the premiere of his film Gandhi Talks but conducted a masterclass with film enthusiasts. Malayalam cinema had one of its biggest stars Unni Mukkudan of Malikappuram fame walking the red carpet.
Rishabh Shetty whose Kantara was screened was also present at the closing ceremony. Telugu superstar Naga Chaitanya walked the red carpet for his series Dhoota being screened as part of the gala premiere. There were 23 masterclasses and in conversation session this year while 9 gala premieres took place with over 75 red carpet walks. Some of the other prominent names present this year were Filmmakers Brillante Mendoza, Director, Palme d’Or winner, Philippines, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Director, Palme d’Or winner, Turkey, Hugh Welchman, Director, Oscar Nominee, UK, James Madio, Actor, USA, Jaya Ahsan, Actress & Producer, Bangladesh, Diman Zandi, Actress and Indian filmmakers like Vetrimaran, Shoojit Sircar, T S Nagabharana, Shekhar Kapur, Vipul Shah and Rajkumar Santoshi to name a few. The growing stature of IFFI in the global film festival circuit became evident with nearly 3000 film entries being received for the international section, a growth of 3 times from last year.
Salman graced the festival to cheer for his home production ‘ Farrey ’, Michael Douglas was honoured with the Satyajit Ray Lifetime Achievement Award, and Karan Johar unveiled the first look of Sara Ali Khan’s ‘ Ae Watan Mere Watan ’
While they did talk about the film, they didn’t forget to have fun either. Johar said it was his mission to get Sara married. He said, “I hope you find green flag guys. I am manifesting it more than anything else.” The filmmaker continued, “I know people who have come and spoken about the potential of marriage and they got married. I think there is a bit of Sima Taparia in me. I am that Punjabi aunty who wants to get people together and Sara is my next mission.” Shahid Kapoor at IFFI
Shahid Kapoor has completed 20 years in the industry this year. He also has an interesting line-up of films coming up very soon. At the International Film Festival of India in Goa, he was performing on the stage before he tripped. The actor got up and began to dance again to entertain the crowd with all gusto.