Pune IntтАЩl Film Fest begins: Distinguished awards for Enoch Daniels, Manoj Kumar; SD Burman honour for Usha Mangeshkar
тАЬHonesty is important in music, one has to be honest. We should be our own judge and then we should present before the audience, this is my personal experience,тАЭ said 94-year-old eminent music arranger Enoch Daniels. He was speaking at the inaugural ceremony of the 21st Pune International Film Festival (PIFF) where he was honoured with the PIFF Distinguished Award for Outstanding Contribution to Indian Cinema at the Theatre AcademyтАЩs Sakal Lalit Kalaghar in Mukund Nagar Thursday.
Iranian film тАШHoly SpiderтАЩ, directed by Iranian filmmaker Ali Abbasi, opened the 21st edition of the annual international film festival which witnesses large footfalls of cinema aficionados each year. As many as 187 films from India and abroad will be screened during the festival which will go on till February 9 and has тАШCelebrating 75 years of Independence with CinemaтАЩ as its central theme this year.
Veteran actor Manoj Kumar was also honoured with the PIFF Distinguished Award for Outstanding Contribution to Indian Cinema. Maharashtra Minister for Culture Sudhir Mungantiwar and festival director Jabbar Patel honoured Kumar earlier at his residence in Mumbai.
Noted singer Usha Mangeshkar was presented with this yearтАЩs prestigious SD Burman International Award for Creative Music and Sound during the inaugural function. Mangeshkar, in her speech, thanked the jury and reminisced about working with Patel in the Marathi movie тАШJait Re JaitтАЩ.
Nine-time National Award-winning film editor A Sreekar Prasad and Polish director Krzysztof Zanussi were also felicitated on the occasion. Inspector General of Registration and Controller of Stamps Shravan Hardikar, MD of Maharashtra Film, Stage and Cultural Development Corporation Limited Avinash Dhakane as well the festivalтАЩs jury members тАУ Dominik Locher, Jacqueline Lentzou, Khairy Beshara, Kim Dong-ho, Mahesh Narayanan, Marita Hallfors, P Sheshadri and Stig Bjorkman were also present.
Performances by National Award-winning vocalist Rahul Deshpande and playback singer Priyanka Barve enthralled the audience with 75 musical years of Indian cinema, followed by a performance by dancer-actor Sharvari Jamenis and group.
Two-hour delay in screening: Delegates voice dismay
While the 21st edition of the International Film Festival (PIFF) opened with pomp and show to a full house at the Theatre AcademyтАЩs Sakal Lalit Kalaghar in Mukund Nagar on Thursday, several delegates voiced their dismay over the delay of two hours for the filmтАЩs screening.
тАЬThe opening film was scheduled to begin at 7 pm and we planned according to that. We were informed on site at 8 pm that there is a delay in the inaugural programme. The organisers should have informed the patrons through their social media that there is a delay. It was a big inconvenience to wait for two hours,тАЭ a festival delegate from Bavdhan said.
