Singer jodi Roop Kumar Rathod & Sunali Rathod are proud parents, an only child & most precious daughter is creating name & recognition for herself following the footsteps of her musical family lineage. Reewa Rathod, now rejoices the inclusion of her new song, “Enroute Ganesha”, in the 20th anniversary compilation of the world renowned Buddha Bar Lounge Music. With pride & humility Reewa’s parents speak of their delight on this milestone, achieved due to her unwavering focus & dedication to the art of music.

“I am blessed to have grown up around music & the creation of melodies that touch the souls & hearts of people worldwide. I endeavour to and will work relentlessly towards creating music and enhancing this art form across international borders. We live today in a world where boundaries only exist in the mind. I want a meeting of minds & music working with international music artists. I am thrilled that my new song has found a place on the international music platform and is receiving a great response,” says Reewa.

Reewa as a child began singing & learning to play the piano at the age of 5, she wrote & composed her 1st song at the tender age of 9. “Shanti Sheldon was my esteemed Piano teacher and I completed all 8 grades from the Royal School of London with distinction. My father was extremely supportive of my passion and yet maintained a strict oversight when it came to practice or riyaaz. Both my parents have always wanted the best for me & from me,” recalls Reewa.

Apart from Piano, Reewa also learnt Carnatic vocal music from the world renowned Smt. Balamni Iyer & Prasanna Varrier. Reewa observed & learnt the intricacies of Hindustani classical music from Padmabhushan Pandit Rajan & Sajan Mishra ji. Reewa idolizes singer Hari Haran and has the good fortune of taking periodical guidance from him whilst also accompanying him on some of his musical tours. “I am a composer & singer, which is reflective of the current international musical trend. Although, to be able to sing another composers song is a privilege – it means bringing to life someone else’s musical intent” clarifies Reewa.

Reewa has already composed & sung for critically acclaimed actor Nandita Das’s Spanish Film Rastres De Sandal also starring Aina Clotet.

Well, the artist has just begun her journey and there is yet some way to go, but her passion, maturity & confidence will deliver the anticipated results.

Producer: Anil Keshavrao & Jalamkar Yayati Naik
Director: Nilesh Raosaheb Jalamkar
Star Cast: Makrand Anaspure, Ajinkya Deo, Mohan Joshi, Bharat Ganeshpure, Vinit Bonde, Chetan Dalvi, Amol Tale, Deepali Jagtap, Sneha Chavan etc
Genre: Political Satire
Ratings**

Director Nilesh Raosaheb Jalamkar has picked up an interesting subject, in Nagpur Adhiveshan – Ek Sahal, based on the politician’s yearly assembly held in Nagpur, but somewhere along the line he seems to have developed cold feet and instead of showing the real goings on of the assembly he concentrates only on its causes and effects without offering any remedial solutions.

So Nagpur Adhiveshan – Ek Sahal is mainly based on the political upheavals that take place during the assembly time and how the so called politician’s chamchas con innocent people. They indulge in bribery, boozing & womanizing, and all this coated with amusements galore.

All in all director Nilesh’s directorial skills leaves much to be desired as he seems to be totally confused with the dilemma of handling too many characters involved in too many plots & sub – plots. Even the production value seems to be zero, maybe due to budget constraints.

The only saving grace of the film is the par excellence act of all the veteran actors, while at the Box Office turnstiles the film will surely prove to be a non – starter.

The flamboyant, high octane Ranveer Singh completely stumped the media during a press conference. As his mentor & director of Befikre, Aditya Chopra, has written a touching & heart felt note about Ranveer’s part in his film, he decided to read it aloud on stage. As he continued to read it further, he got very emotional, with tears welling up.

A filmmaker who has always let his work do the talking has communicated with people through his series of blogs on why he has chosen to make a light hearted & impulsive romance. In his 2nd post, he has stated that even before he chose to direct the film, he had written this story with Ranveer Singh in mind. Ranveer was very moved by such admiration from his mentor and a game changing filmmaker. As he choked up while reading it, the media was also moved by the poignant if surprising moment.

In fact, the usually talkative Ranveer couldn’t take any more questions at the press conference after that. He was stunned & stayed silent. Fans who had turned up here kept calling out for him to dance, or mimic, or entertain in his usual flamboyant style but Ranveer had to make an effort to hold back his tears. Given that the mood of the press conference took an emotional turn, the emcee asked for the final questions to wrap up proceedings here.

Despite being on a tight promotional schedule, he asked for a break from his team, and kept asking for tissues as it was hard for him to control his tears. People present here noticed that he kept sipping on water, trying to compose himself. But his mentor’s gesture meant the world to him.

An hour later, when asked, recalling the moment, he said “Nothing has meant more to me. Not Box Office turnstiles success, or praise, or even awards. I am overwhelmed. It’s difficult to describe what I am feeling right now.”

Banner: Boundscript Motion Pictures Pen India Limited
Producers: Sujoy Ghosh & Jayantilal Gada
Director: Sujoy Ghosh
Star Cast: Vidya Balan, Arjun Rampal, Naisha Khanna, Jugal Hansraj, Tota Roychoudhury,
Kharaj Mukherjee, Kaushik Sen, Manini Chadha
Music: Clinton Cerejo

Producer – Director Sujoy Ghosh claim to fame has been his recent directorial venture TE3N and of course Kahani in the past and now he has yet again come up with an intriguing & riveting sequel of Kahani aptly named Kahani 2.

The scripted scenario of Kahaani 2 –
Durga Rani Singh film starts off with a day in the life of Vidya Sinha (Vidya Balan), which oscillates between her wheel chair ridden daughter Mini (Naisha Khanna / Tunisha Sharma) and her office (in that order). 1 day she returns home from her office to find her house empty and her darling daughter Mini missing. Soon after she receives an image of her daughter bound & gagged, along with a phone call from an unknown number stating that her daughter has been kidnapped and that she should reach a stipulated spot if she wants to save her daughter. A visibly distorted Mini wastes no time and rushes to the said spot. On the way, she meets with an untimely accident, which lands her in a coma. There enters the “promotion hungry” police officer Sub – Inspector Inderjeet Singh (Arjun Rampal), who is the officer – in -charge of the case. While investigating, he gets hold of Vidya’s personal diary (in which she has written about all the events involving her & Mini), which shakes his world completely. When Inderjeet Singh reaches the hospital to meet Vidya Sinha, he gets a shock of his life when he discovers that Vidya Sinha’s face is an exact replica of a person he knew a long time ago named Durga Rani Singh. Unable to comprehend this, Inderjeet gets to work on the case to find out more whether the comatose accident victim is Vidyya Sinha or Durga Rani Singh. In the interim phase Inderjeet is informed by his superior officer that a dreaded killer & kidnapper Durga Rani Singh, was last spotted in their city. On his journey to uncover the truth Inderjeet discovers Vidya Sinha’s diary that shocks him completely.

Amongst all the sequel movies released recently director Sujoy Ghosh’ Kahani 2 is really captivating and stands apart from the rest of the herd of sequels raining this season and for this his entire crew & cast deserves a standing ovation. A special mention must be made of Editor Namrata Rao & Cinematographer Tapan Basu.

Performance wise Kahaani 2 – Durga Rani Singh is a Vidya Balan film all the way. If Vidya Balan was the heart of Kahani she is the soul of the sequel namely Kahaani 2 – Durga Rani Singh. The supremacy of Vidya Balan’s performance is so high that, it makes its predecessor Kahaani look like a teaser of what to expect from its sequel. In the true sense of the word, Vidya Balan owns the film totally, so much so that, it’s impossible to think of the Kahaani franchise without her. While On Arjun Rampal on his part has tried his best to march nay match up to Vidya Balan’s par excellence act. He enacts his role with utmost aplomb, conviction & confidence. Arjun Rampal, besides being excellent in his role, brings in a lot of compassion & smartness to his character. Next in line is the cute little child artiste namely Naisha Khanna who strongly makes her presence felt in the film and how! Director Sujoy Ghosh has extracted a superlative performance out of Naisa. Jugal Hansraj, who returns to the celluloid silver screen after a long hiatus is marvellos in tandem with his ever green screen presence.

Tail Piece: Kahaani 2 – Durga Rani Singh is an excellently crafted dark thriller. At the Box Office turnstiles, the movie will be appreciated on the account of its engaging narrative. A must watch film.

Banner: T – Series & Benaras Mediaworks
Producers: Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar & Anubhav Sinha
Director: Anubhav Sinha
Star: Aditya Seal, Neha Sharma, Kanwaljit Singh & debutant Aashim Gulati
Music: Ankit Tiwari & Nikhil – Vinay

Director Anubhav Sinha’s last outing was the Shah Rukh Khan starrer sci – fi film Ra.One and now after a long hiatus he returns to carry forward the legacy of the original Tum Bin with a newly decorated package of Tum Bin 2 albeit with the same ingredients remixed.

The scripted scenerio of Tum Bin 2 kicks off with an untoward & unexpected skiing accident of Amar (Aashim Gulati). When the rescue team gives up their hope of finding Amar’s body, this leaves his fiancée Taran (Neha Sharma) & Amar’s loving & caring father Papaji (Kanwaljeet Singh) with no hope of finding him ever. Unable to bear the grief of Amar’s loss, Taran withdraws herself from the world & goes into a nutshell. One fine day, Papaji introduces his late friend’s son Shekhar (Aditya Seal) to Taran and her lovely & lively sisters. Seeing Taran in sorrow, Shekhar tries his level best to bring a smile on her face. Shekhar also helps Taran immensely in realising her dream of setting up a confectionary business. Amidst all the proceedings, Taran not just tries to forget her past & Amar, but also gradually falls in love with the happy – go – lucky Shekhar. Suddenly, one fine day, out of the blue, Papaji gets a call from Amar, whom everyone thought was dead long ago. Amar is extremely happy to be united with his loving family, especially Taran. While on one hand, love gets rekindled between Taran & Amar, on the other hand, Shekhar plans to leave everyone and let Taran & Amar have a happy life ahead together. The innocent Amar, who is totally unaware of the love affair between Taran & Shekhar, starts dreaming of his future with Taran. That’s when Taran confesses to Amar about her feelings for Shekhar.

This week the sequels of 2 film’s franchise Force & Tum Bin were released. So while Force 2 clinched its success spot at the Box – Office turnstiles Tum Bin 2 will definitely have the going tough as in the name of making a sequel director Anubhav Sinha seems to be heavily gripped with the hangover of the original Tum Bin. So he has just rehashed the heady cocktail of the earlier film. Even otherwise this age old tussle between 1 girl & 2 boys is totally outdated. And Tum Bin 2 offers nothing new. Yet what saves Tum Bin 2 is the mellifluous, melodious & foot tapping music of Ankit Tiwari & Nikhil – Vinay & of course the eye pleasing cinematography of Ewan Mulligan which is really top – notch.

Performance wise it is Neha Sharma who steals the thunder from both the boys Aashim Gulati & Aditya Seal. She is followed a close 2nd by Aditya Seal. He delivers a very sensitive as well as the happy – go – lucky act as per the demands of the role. He has really come a long way from his Ek Chotisi Love Story & Purani Jeans days. While the small screen sensation Aashim Gulati makes his Bollywood debut with Tum Bin 2 and in spite of his brief screen time he has given a good account of himself.

Tail Piece: Tum Bin 2 is like an old wine in a new bottle. It will gradually sail through the stormy Box – Office turnstiles on the strength of its music, cinematography & word of mouth publicity.

Debutant Vasanth Ravi To Star In Director Ram’s Next

Ram’s long delayed Taramani starring Andrea Jeremiah & debutant Vasanth Ravi in lead roles has finally got a release date. The makers have confirmed that the film’s audio will be released on 20th Nov, 2016 while the film itself will hit the theaters on 23rd Dec, 2016 for the grand Christmas weekend.

Taramani will be the next film of director Ram after his National award winning Thangameenkal and hence the film has garnered huge expectations. There is also a great deal of pre-release buzz for the film’s music album as Ram continues his association with his hit combo Yuvan Shankar Raja in this film too.

Popular Hollywood Actor To Feature In Dhanush’s Next

Actor Dhanush & director Karthik Subbaraj are all set to team up for a new film. This film is likely to be produced by Sri Thenandal Films banner. And the makers are also trying to rope in Hollywood actor Al Pacino for an important role in the project. The team is negotiating with the actor to work out the dates and other details. Since the film will be predominantly shot in USA, it won’t be a tough deal for the makers to bring Al Pacino on board. Earlier on the makers of Superstar Rajinikanth’s 2.0 tried to rope in Arnold Schwarzenegger to play the lead villain and the Hollywood superstar was also keen to be part of the project. However issues related to international trade agreements made it impossible and now Bollywood star Akshay Kumar is acting in the film.

Tamannah Smitten By An Old Man

Silambaran is playing the role of a 60 year old man Ashwin Thatha in Anbanavan Asaradhavan Adangadhavan. The team lead by director Adhik Ravichandran has started shooting the portions of this character in Chennai. The main female lead of the film Tamannah joined the film’s shooting in this schedule. This lead to rumors that Tamannah is also playing an old woman in this film.
The poster unveiling Simbu’s Ashwin Thatha getup has been released recently. This features Simbu as the macho old man lifting a car with his hands and Tamannah as a young girl hugging him from behind. This poster puts an end to rumors that Tamannah is also an oldie in the film and fans can be assured that she will be a youthful girl in the film.

Vijay Sethupathi & Ritika Singh To Pair Up Again

Vijay Sethupathi will be acting in a film to be directed by Panneerselvam of Renigunta fame. Remo girl Keerthy Suresh was initially approached to play the female lead in this film but she could not take up the offer. Now the makers are in talks with Ritika Singh for the female lead character. If the Irudhi Suttru lass accepts the offer it will be her 2nd with Vijay Sethupathi after the critically acclaimed super hit Aandavan Kattalai that too in a short span of time.

Manalo Okadu Official Release Date Fixed

After the disastrous performance of Tulasi Dalam, R P Patnaik is making an effort to bounce back with a never-say-die-spirit. His next film Manalo Okadu is all done and is gearing up for a 4th Nov, 2016 release.
Starring R P Patnaik & Anitha Reddy of Nuvvu Nenu fame in key roles, the film has Sai Kumar, Nasser, Tanikella Bharani, Jayaprakash Reddy, Srimukhi, Raghubabu, Banjerjee, Gollapudi Maruthirao, Raja Ravindra, Duvvasi Mohan and others are part of the cast.

Boyapati’s New Film Gets A Launch Date

It’s known that Boyapati Sreenu has a film lined up with Bellamkonda Srinivas. Produced by Abhishek Pictures, this is to be music-directed by Rock Star Devi Sri Prasad.

The news is that the movie will be launched in a grand ceremony on 4th Nov, 2016. The film will be shot regularly immediately. Producer Abhishek Nama avers, “This is a Boyapati-style mass & action entertainer that is apt for Bellamkonda Srinivas. The actor is undergoing a thorough make-over for his role in the movie. Both love & action have an equally important place in the story. The pre-production works have been going on for 6 months now.”

Prakash Raj’s Nakshatram 1st Look Out

Ram Charan has been on a release spree. After releasing the logo & the 1st looks of Sundeep Kishan & Pragya Jaiswal, he has released that of Prakash Raj. From the 1st look, it’s clear that Prakash Raj is playing a stellar cop’s role in the movie. Like Sundeep Kishan’s character which is more real than powerful, PR’s too seem to be of the same league. Aptly enough, the film is coming with the caption “To Protect & Serve”. Sai Dharam Tej is playing a powerful cop’s role. Kannada star Sudeep has an interesting role in the film. It’s produced by Sri Chakra Media in association with K Srinivasulu of Butta Bomma Creations, and S Venugopal & Sajju.

Kesava, The Revenge Drama

It’s known that Sudheer Varma of Swamy Ra Ra fame is directing Nikhil yet again. This Abhishek Pictures’ produced film has got a title: Kesava. Also starring Ritu Varma of Pelli Choopulu fame, the film is touted to be a revenge drama laced with a love story. Producer Abhishek Nama avers, “Who is it that the hero wants to avenge is a gripping point of our film. Why is he raging with the emotions of revenge & grudge? This is another interesting aspect. We are done with the 1st schedule. The 2nd will be started off soon. You are going to see another super hit film in the combination of Nikhil & Sudheer.”

Nayanthara To Tie The Knot!!!

South Indian actress Nayanthara is getting married if latest reports are to be believed. Hope, this time it is not the creation of rumor mills. Kollywood director Vignesh is the groom. There was news that both of them are in love for some time, and they were spotted together in many places and was even found traveling together. The marriage will take place next year. Nayanthara has acted in the film Naanum Rowdydhaan directed by Vignesh Shivan. It is said that love blossomed on the film sets of this movie.

Vivek Oberoi To Fight With Ajith

Vivek Oberoi is being chosen to play the villain’s role in Superstar Ajith’s upcoming film. Vivek Oberoi had earlier appeared in a negative role in Hrithik Roshan starrer Krish 3. This is Ajith’s 57th film and is yet to be titled, but for the time being it is known as Thala 57. The makers had earlier contacted Abhishek Bachan, Aravind Swamy & Sudeep to do the villaian’s role. Finally it is heard that Vivek Oberoi has been selected for the role. The film’s location is Austria and Ajith will essay the role of an Interpol officer. It is touted as a spy thriller and the hero is fighting a deadly international mafia led by Vivek Oberoi. Kajal Agarwal & Akshara Hassan are the heroines.

Rachita Ram Picks A remake

A profound actress of Kannada cinema and no miss in the box office for her films so far Rachita Ram is now heading for a remake film with young actor & son of V Ravichandran – Manoranjan. It is actor Dhanush’s film Velai Illai Pattadhaari – the most successful director Nandakishore of Victory, Adhyaksha, Ranna & Mukunda Miraari is directing this remake. For this remake film Rockline Venkatesh is producer.
Rachita Ram has almost finished Bharjari with Dhruva Sarja in Chetan Kumar’s direction, she is part of Pushpaka Vimana a film very close to her heart and next in the queue is this remake.

Crazy Boy Completes 75 Days

The debut film of dashing hero Dilip Prakash & Ashika, Crazy Boy in topnotch director Mahesh Babu completed 75 days screening at Sapna theatre in Bengaluru. PA Films banner producers are Chandru & Govindaraju producers of this Crazy Boy. Shekar Chandru cinematography, Jassie Gift music, Ajay Kumar story & screenplay plus K M Prakash editing are part of the technical team.

Prakash Raj, Ravishanker, Rangayana Raghu, Sadhu Kokila and others are in the supporting cast of this Crazy Boy.

Banner: Sunshine Pictures Pvt Ltd & J. A. Entertainment
Producers: Vipul Amrutlal Shah, Viacom Motion Pictures & John Abraham
Director: Abhinay Deo
Star Cast: John Abraham, Sonakshi Sinha, Tahir Raj Bhasin, Freddy Daruwala,
Narendra Jha, Vikram Kapadia, Patricia Mittler, Genelia D’Souza, Raj Babbar, Boman Irani & Adil Hussain
Music: Amaal Mallik, Gourov Roshin & Prasad Sashte

A cine goer always has a lot of expectations from a sequel of the original film. But 2 sequels of the earlier films releasing on the same day of the same week is a bit too much. It is but natural that the fans of the 2 franchises gets divided which certainly leaves its imprint on the results of their Box – Office turnstiles collections. The films in question are Force 2 & Tum Bin 2.

The scripted scenario of Force 2 kick starts with a series of killings of 3 vital Indian RAW agents in China. These killings not just shock the Indian RAW wing, but also sends them into tizzy about the crime suspects and their agenda behind these killings. Amidst all this, they also discover that there is a mole (informer / leak) in the Budapest Embassy, who is leaking all the vital information to the Chinese Government, for reasons best known to him only. In order to unearth this mole, the RAW officials assign Kamaljit Kaur aka KK (Sonakshi Sinha) on the job. She is joined by the raw & brutal Yashvardhan aka Yash (John Abraham) from the Mumbai police department. The reason why Yash joins KK in the mission, is to avenge the death of his Best Friend (Freddy Daruwala), who was amongst the 3 RAW agents killed. Amidst their mission to find the mole, Yash & KK are subjected to a series of uphill tasks, which makes it extremely difficult for them to unearth the mole. Just when Yash & KK think that they have solved the case, a shocking event happens that shuts down all the possibilities to solve the mystery.

Director Abhinay Deo after directing 2 films (Dehli Belly & Game) & 1 tv series (24) once again takes his directorial skills a notch higher with Force 2. The action genre of Force 2 keeps the cine goers hooked from “The Start” till “The End”. A well deserved mention must also be made of the behind – the – scenes team like Parvez Shaikh & Jasmeet Kleen (story & screenplay), Imre Juhasz & Mohana Krishna (cinematography), Amaal Mallik, Gourov Roshin & Prasad Sashte (music), Amitabh Shukla & Sanjay Sharma (Editing) & above all Franz Spilhaus (all action / stunt director).

Performance wise believe it or not but the shining stars of Force 2 are undoubtedly John Abraham & Sonakshi Sinha, who certainly complement each other in every scene together and individually too. Their sparkling chemistry is another asset of Force 2. Also they are in their best of element especially after Dishoom & Akira respectively. Next – in – line outstanding performers are Tahir Raj Bhasin, Freddy Daruwala, Narendra Jha, Vikram Kapadia, Patricia Mittler, Genelia D’Souza, Raj Babbar, Boman Irani & Adil Hussain.

Tail Piece: Force 2 is a power packed adrenaline pumping action thriller which is just the right film for both the multiplex as well as the single theatre cine goers. Even at the Box – Office turnstiles Force 2 will definately hit the bull’s eye.

Banner: Dharma Productions, Red Chillies Entertainment & Hope Productions
Producer: Gauri Shinde, Gauri Khan & Karan Johar
Director: Gauri Shinde
Star Cast: Shahrukh Khan, Alia Bhatt, Kunal Kapoor, Angad Bedi, Ira Dubey, Aditya Roy Kapur & Ali Zafar
Music: Amit Trivedi

Director Gauri Shinde’s 1st directorial claim to fame was the Sridevi starrer film English Vinglish. But sadly enough her 2nd outing in Dear Zindagi really sucks. In spite of the writing prowess of Gauri Shinde Dear Zindagi literally fails to hold the viewers interest.

The scripted scenario of the film kick starts with the “on – the – sets” introduction of the extremely talented cinematographer Kaayra (Alia Bhatt), for whom work perfection towers above everything else in life. Not the one to make any kind of compromise in her work, she also harbours a heartfelt dream of directing her full – fledged feature film some day. One day, she gets a dream offer from Raghavendra (Kunal Kapoor), for co -directing a prestigious feature film on the foreign shores. Since Kaayra is in love with Raghavendra & vice versa, Kaayra becomes extremely happy thinking that she would be able to combine work with pleasure. Even before the feeling of her dream coming true sinks in, she gets a shock of her life when she gets to know that, Raghavendra has got engaged to his ex – girlfriend on the foreign shores. This news totally shatters the visibly distorted Kaayra. That’s when she happens to meet the renowned psychiatrist Dr. Jehangir Khan aka Jag (Shah Rukh Khan). Thereafter starts her therapy sessions with Jag. It is through these sessions that Jag gets to know that Kaayra has been silently suffering from many issues caused during her tender childhood. Gradually during the therapy sessions, a strong bond develops between Kaayra & Jag, so much so that she openly confides all about her past & her present day happenings to Jag. While doing so, Kaayra realises that she has actually fallen for Jag.

Director Gauri Shinde seriously errs in her 2nd outing Dear Zindagi. She has succeeded in extracting a superb performance from her entire star cast. But if only she had concentrated more on the other technical arena too. But Alas! Its too late now to rectify the mistakes she has made. No issues better luck in your hat trick outing.

Performance wise both Shah Rukh Khan & Alia Bhatt deserve a standing ovation for their intense, remarkable & sentive portrayal of their respective roles. In fact both, SRK as a psychiatrist & Alia Bhatt as a cinematographer, are so endearing that you instantly feel like giving them a warm hug. Another well – deserving act comes from SRK after Chak De! India and from Alia Bhatt after Udtaa Punjab. While Kunal Kapoor is superb, Angad Bedi is surprising, Ira Dubey is 1st rate, Aditya Roy Kapur is perfect & Ali Jafar is simply oustanding in their respective roles.

Tail Piece: Dear Zindagi maybe a multiplex audiences glass of wine, but it is certainly not a single screen audiences cup of tea. The film may win laurels & accolades in the Global Film Festival circuit. But at the Indian Box office turnstiles its chances are nil.

In the curtains down grand finale of the International Film Festival Of India (IFFI Goa 2016) it was Iranian filmmaker Reza Mirkarimi’s Daughter which bagged the prestigious “Golden Peacock” Award for the “Best Film” at the gala closing ceremony of the 47th International Film Festival of India in Goa. Mirkarimi got Rs 40 lakhs (Rs 4 mn) in cash prize for Director & Producer, the Trophy & a certificate.

Daughter was a family drama set in Southern Iran that tells the story of a young girl who leaves her hometown for a half a day trip to Tehran without the permission of her strict father to attend a close friend’s farewell party. On her way back hazy weather changes all she had planned.
Daughter had also won the “Best Film” award in the Moscow International Film Festival earlier this year.

Iranian actor Farhad Aslani bagged the “Best Actor” award for his portrayal of the strict father in the same film Daughter, picking up the Silver Peacock & Rs 10 lakhs (Rs 1 mn) in cash prize.

The “Best Director” award went to the Turkish Director Baris Kaya for his film
Rauf. The film is a unique love story of a search under the shade of war and in tough natural conditions. The film is known for its pink hue, which is also the colour of love. Director Baris Kaya & Producer Soner Caner got Rs 15 lakhs (Rs 1.5 mn) in cash award, a citation & the Silver Peacock Trophy.

Elina Vaska bagged the “Best Actress” award for her portrayal of a 17 year old lonely girl in the Latvian film Mellow Mud. She walked away with the Silver Peacock Trophy & Rs 10 lakhs (Rs 1 mn) in cash prize.

The South Korean historic drama The Throne directed by Lee Jon – ik bagged the Special Jury Award comprising of Silver Peacock & a cash prize of Rs 15 lakhs (Rs 1.5 mn). The film set in 1762 during the Joseon dynasty explores the dilemma of the King in penalizing the Crown Prince and his own son for treason.

Pepa San Martin’s Spanish film from Argentina / Chile Rara bagged the Centenary Award for “Best Debut Feature Film”, carrying a Silver Peacock Trophy & a cash prize of Rs 10 lakhs (Rs 1 mn). It tells the story of a 13 year old girl as she begins to grow up.

Sanskrit film Ishti, Georgian film House Of Others, Czech entry I Olga Hepnarova
According To Her, Polish film The Last Family, Spanish film The Long Night Of Francisco Sanctis, French film Nelly, Arabic film Personal Affairs, Romanian film Scarred Hearts, Russian film The Student & Bengali film Sahaj Pather Gappo were also in the International Competition Section.

The international jury for IFFI 2016 had acclaimed writer – director Ivan Passer as the chairperson with Larry Smith, Lordan Zafranovic, Nagesh Kukunoor, Leila Kilani as members.

ICFT – UNESCO Gandhi Medal The ICFT –UNESCO Gandhi Medal was awarded to Turkish film maker Mustafa Kara’s Cold Of Kalandar. This award, instituted by the International Council for Film & Television, Paris & UNESCO is given to a film that portrays the Gandhian values of peace & harmony. Kara’s Cold Of Kalandar, set in a mountain village in the Black Sea region is also Turkey’s official entry for “Best Foreign Language Film” category of Oscar Awards.

Canadian multi – lingual entry The Apology by Toronto based Tiffany Hsiung won the Special Mention under the ICFT -UNESCO Gandhi Medal competition.

In all 7 films, including T S Nagabharana’s Allama were in the fray for the ICFT -UNESCO Gandhi Medal.

The glittering closing ceremony witnessed musical performances composed by Sachin -Jigar. The maker of Telugu magnum opus Bahubali – The Beginning, S S Rajamouli was the Chief Guest of the closing ceremony.

Mridula Sinha, Governor of Goa, Laxmikant Parsekar, Union Minister of State for Information & Broadcasting, Col. Rajyvardhan Rathore, Jury Chairperson Ivan Passer and other jury members, Subhah Ghai & Nana Patekar, and a number of other dignitaries were also present.