'Arjun' and 'Grahanam' make it to IFFI

Tanikella Bharani in a clipping from `Grahanam' film

HYDERABAD: When the 36th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) 2005 begins in Goa on November 24 unspooling over 200 foreign and Indian films, it will have a distinct Telugu touch. Two Telugu films, blockbuster `Arjun' (అర్జున్‌) and offbeat `Grahanam' (గ్రహణం) have been short listed for the competition and Indian Panorama sections of the festival.

"In fact half the films to be featured in the Indian Panorama section are from South India," Sanjit Rodrigues, Chief Executive Officer, Entertainment Society of Goa, told media persons here on Thursday. The inclusion of `Arjun' was announced by Namrata Shirodkar, film actor.

Mr. Rogrigues said arrangements were in full swing for the 10-day festival at Goa, now declared the permanent venue. Twenty-two countries have confirmed their participation and the entourage includes filmmakers, artistes and technicians. The jury for the Indian Panorama headed by M. S. Sathyu had chosen 20 and 15 for the feature film and non- feature categories of the section.

Debashree Mukherjee, Secretary, Information and Publicity, Goa Government, said Hyderabad was chosen for the brief preview of the festival, recognising it as a hub of filmmaking in South India. For Goa Government, the IFFI was not just about films but fun, music, heritage and culture. V.V. Vinayak, Telugu film director, and Subbaraman Iyer, Vice President and Circle Head, AP Idea Cellular, also spoke.

Indian Panorama will open with `Daivanamathil' ( Malayalam) directed by Jayaraj in the feature and `The Jaws of Death' directed by Gautam Saikia in the non- feature sections. Another Malayalam film, Kamal's `Perumazhakkalam' and Nagesh Kukunoor's Hindi film, `Iqbal,' will represent India in the competition section. Two Indian film retrospectives will feature films of Sunil Dutt and Hrishikesh Mukherjee.

There will be a repeat of the `beach front screening' of popular films and it will open with `The Rising.' The session on `Masters Class' would see renowned filmmakers like Dolores Chaplin and Shyam Benegal talk about finer aspects of filmmaking, giving a tip or two.

Courtesy: The Hindu