VOL. LVIV August 2015 No. 8

HIGHLIGHTS

 Sunil Arora assumes charge as Secretary (I&B)  gets first talkie version of Devdas from Bangladesh  Thithi bags two awards at Locarno  honoured at Melbourne  45th State Film Awards for 2014 announced  Festival of films from the North-East organised

NATIONAL DOCUMENTATION CENTRE ON MASS COMMUNICATION NEW MEDIA WING (FORMERLY RESEARCH, REFERENCE AND TRAINING DIVISION ) MINISTRY OF INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING Room No.437-442, Phase IV, Soochana Bhavan, CGO Complex, New -3

Compiled, Edited & Issued by National Documentation Centre on Mass Communication NEW MEDIA WING (Formerly Research, Reference & Training Division) Ministry of Information & Broadcasting

Chief Editor L. R. Vishwanath

Editor Alka Mathur

CONTENTS

FILM APPOINMENTS 1 AWARDS International 2, 3 State 4-6 FESTIVALS Busan 3 Israeli 7 Locarno 2 Melbourne 2-3 North East 6-7 Toronto 4 Venice 3 OBITUARIES 8 REVIEW/DEVELOPMENT 1 REVIEW/DEVELOPMENT IN STATES 8 TAXATION 7

REVIEW/DEVELOPMENT

Sunil Arora assumes charge as Secretary (I&B)

Shri Sunil Arora (Rajasthan Cadre 1980) has assumed charge as Secretary in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. He has taken over from Shri Bimal Julka who has retired. Prior to his appointment, Shri Arora was Secretary Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Government of India. Shri Arora has served in various capacities at both the Centre and State. At the centre he has worked in Ministries/Departments such as Finance, Textiles and Planning Commission. He also served as Joint Secretary in Ministry of Civil Aviation during 1999-2002 and CMD, Indian Airlines for five year (two years as additional charge and three years as full charge). In Rajasthan, besides districts postings in Dholpur, Alwar, Nagaur and Jodhpur he was Secretary to the Chief Minister, Rajasthan during 1993-1998 and Principal Secretary to CM (2005-2008) and handled Information and Public Relation, Industries and Investment Departments. PIB Release (31 August 2015) Dainik Jagran (29 August 2015) Rashtriya Sahara (29 August 2015)

India gets first talkie version of Devdas from Bangladesh

National Film Archive of India acquired the first talkie version of the 1935 cult movie Devdas which was till now available only in Bangladesh. A DVD copy of the P.C. Barua directed movie in Bengali was handed over to NFAI officials by a visiting Bangladeshi delegation. The DVD copy of the 1935 Devdas version was given in exchange of a copy of India’s first film Raja Harishchandra. Devdas is based on Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay’s eponymous novel. The Bengali version starred Barua himself as Devdas, Jamuna Barua as Parvati (Paro) and Chandrabati Devi as Chandramukhi. (18 August 2015)

1 Bulletin on Film, August 2015

Amol Palekar to chair India’s Oscar jury

Veteran actor –director Amol Palekar has been appointed as chairman of India’s Oscar jury which will select the country’s official entry to the best foreign films category of the 88th Academy Awards. Hindu (25 August 2015) Dainik Bhaskar (25 August 2015) Rashtriya Sahara (25 August 2015)

AWARDS/FESTIVALS

Thithi bags two awards at Locarno

Thithi directed by Raam Reddy bagged the Concorso Cineasti dee Presente and the Swatch Award for the Best Feature at the Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland. The film in Kannada tells the story of how three generations of sons react to the death of their grandfather, Century Gowda. Deccan Chronicle (18 August 2015)

Piku honoured at Melbourne

The India Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM) 2015 closed with an award ceremony. The festival honoured the best of Indian cinema. The IFFM award for 2015 for the best film was given to Piku and the best director award went to . Bhumi Pednekar of Dum Laga Ke Haisha picked her first award for the best actress while the best actor award went to Irrfan Khan for Piku. Tamil film Kaaka Muttai received the best indie film award and the People’s Choice Award was given to for PK. Actor Anil Kapoor was conferred with a

2 Bulletin on Film, August 2015 special award for excellence in world cinema. Dainik Jagran (17 August 2015) Hindu (17 August 2015)

Pyaasa to be screened at Venice

The restored version of Guru Dutt’s classic Pyaasa (1957) will be screened at the 72nd Venice International Film Festival. The film will compete with 20 other prestigious restored films from around the world for the Venice Classic Award for the best restored film. Also being screened at Venice is Rinku Kalsy’s documentary For the Love of a Man which gives a peep into actor Rajinikanth’s fandom. The film will have its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival. Dainik Jagran (27 August 2015) Times of India (15August 2015) Indian Express (24August 2015)

Busan film festival to open with India’s Zubaan

Indian film Zubaan will open the 20th Busan International Film Festival. The film has been produced by Guneet Monga and directed by Mozez Singh. Several other Indian films are being screened in different sections of the festival including: Aligarh, , Bahubali, Masaan, Orange Candy and Dhanak. Noted director Anuraag Kashyap will be on the jury of the festival. Asian Age (26 August 2015) Dainik Jagran (27 August 2015)

3 Bulletin on Film, August 2015

Indian participation at Toronto

Leena Yadav’s film will have its world premiere at the 40th Toronto International Film Festival. Parched featuring an ensemble of stars like Tannishtha Chatterjee, Radhika Apte, Survreen Chawla, , Sumeet Vyas, Lehar Khan, Riddhi Sen, Mahesh Balraj and Chandan Anand will premiere in the Special Presentation Section of the film festival. The film is jointly produced by Ajay Devgn, Aseem Bajaj, Gulab Singh and Roshan Jagdale Another film that will have its world premiere is Deepa Mehta’s Beeba Boys. Meghana ’s Talvar and Pan Nalin’s Angry Indian Goddess will also be screened at the festival. Dainik Jagran (20 August 2015) (31 August 2015) Internet

45th for 2014 announced

The 45th Kerala State Film Awards for 2014 have been announced. Ottal has bagged the best feature film award. and Sudev Nair share the best actor award while the best actress award has gone to Nazriya Nazim. Om Shanti Oshana is the best popular film. The complete list is as follows: 1. Best Film Ottal directed by 2. Second Best Film My Life Partner directed by Padma Kumar 3. Best Popular Film Om Shanti Oshana directed by Jude Anthony Joseph 4. Best Actor Nivin .Pauly for (1983 and Days) and Sudev Nair for (My Life Partner) 5. Best Actress Nazriya Nazim for (Om Shanti Oshana and ) 6. Best Director for (Oralpokkam) 7. Best Character for (1983 and Vikramadithyan) Actor 8. Best Character Sethulakshmi for (How old are You) Actress 9. Best Debutante Abrid Shine for (1983) Director 10. Best Story Sidharth Siva for (Ain)

4 Bulletin on Film, August 2015

11. Best Screenplay for (Bangalore Days) (Original) 12. Best Screenplay for (Njan) (Adaptation) 13. Best Children’s Anguram Film 14. Best Child Artiste Master Adwaith for (Anguram) (Male) 15. Best Child Artiste Baby Fathima for (Randu Penkuttikal) (Female) 16. Best for (Iyobinte Pusthakam) Cinematography 17. Best Editor Lijo Paul for (Om Shanti Oshana) 18. Best Music for Adithyakiranangal in White Boys) Director 19. Best Singer Yesudas for (Adithyakiranangal in White Boys) (Male) 20. Best Singer Shreya Ghoshal for (Vijanathayil in How Old Are You) (Female) 21. Best Background Bijibel for (Various Films) Score 22. Best Lyrics O.S. Unnikrishnan for Ithra Pakalinodu in La Sa Gu) 23. Best Live Sound Sandeep Kurissery, Jijimon Joseph for Oralpokkam 24. Best Art Director Indulal Kaveedu for (Njan Ninnodukoodeyundu) 25. Best Sound Tapas Nayak for (Iyobinte Pusthakam) Design 26. Best Sound Harikumar for (Various Films) Mixing 27. Best Costume Sameera Saneesh for (Various Films) Design 28. Best Makeup Manoj Angamaly for (Iyobinte Pusthakam) Artist 29. Best Processing Ranganathan for (Iyobinte Pusthakam) Lab/Colorist 30. Best Dubbing Harishanth Sharan for (White Boys) Artist (Male) 31. Best Dubbing Vimmi Mariam George for (Munnariyippu) Artist (Female)

5 Bulletin on Film, August 2015

32. Special Jury Prathap Pothen for (Once Upon A Time There was a Kallan, Award Indrans for (Apothecary ), Dr. George Mathew (Producer Apothecary), AUPS Chembrassery (Producer La Sa Gu), M G Swarasagar (Singer Manalchitrangal )Yakzan Gary Pereira, Neha S Nair (Music Direction, Iyobinte Pusthakam)

Hindu (11 August 2015) Internet

Festival of films from the North-East organized

Directorate of Film Festivals, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting presented ‘Fragrances from the North East’ at the Siri Fort Auditorium from August 21-23, 2015. The festival was inaugurated by the Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Col. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore in the gracious presence of Shri Bimal Julka, Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. Pallepfam Manipuri film directed and produced by Wanglan Khundongban was the inaugural film of the festival. The film had its world premiere at the festival. The other films were: Yathawat (Nepali) by Tribeny Rai, Last Rites (Nepali) also by Tribeny Rai, Crossing Bridges (Sherdukpen) by Sange Dorjee Thongdok, The Honey Hunter and the Maker (Nagamese) by Tiainla Jamir, Ko: Yad by , Karyukai (English) by Dominic Sangma, Rong’ Kuchek (Garo) by Dominic Sangma, Where the Clouds End (English and Khasi) By Wanphrang Diengdoh Story of a House (Nagamese and English) by Sesino Yhoshu and Sophy Lasuh, 19/87 (Khasi and ) by Wanphrong Diengdoh and Dondor Lynndgoh, MNF: The Mizo Uprising (Mizo, English) by Joseph Pulinthanath and Aisa Yeh Jahaan (Hindi) by Biswajeet Bora. In addition, a retrospective of noted Manipuri director Aribam Syam Sharma was also organized in which 6 of his representative films were screened including: Orchids of Manipur (Manipuri), Ishanou (Manipuri), The Deer on the Lake (English),

6 Bulletin on Film, August 2015

Yelhou Jagoi (Manipuri) and Imagi Ningthem (Manipuri). Times of India (21 August 2015) (21 August 2015) Internet

Israeli Film Festival in Bengaluru

The Consulate General of Israel organised a festival of Israeli films in Bengaluru from August 14 to August 27, 2015. The films were screened at the Alliance Francaise, Bengaluru International Centre and the Suchitra Film Society. A total of nine films were screened at the festival. All the films were in Hebru with English subtitles. The opening film of the festival was Desperado Square (2001). The other films were: 2 Night (2011), The World is Funny (2012), Frozen Days (2005), My Lovely Sister (2011), Nymphs in the Mist (2007), Out of Sight (2006), Restoration (2011) and Things behind the Sun (2006). Deccan Herald (12 August 2015) Internet

TAXTION

Tax Relief for Manjhi: The Mountain Man in UP

The government of Uttar Pradesh has exempted Ketan Mehta’s Manjhi: The Mountain Man from the liability of entertainment tax in Uttar Pradesh. The film has in the eponymous role Hindu (14 August 2015) Times of India (22 August 2015)

7 Bulletin on Film, August 2015

OBITUARIES

Malayalam Actor passes away

Noted film actor Paravoor passed away in Paravoor near on August 19, 2015. He was 86. Born in 1929 at Moothakunnam near Paravoor, Bharathan had acted for around 60 years. He began his career as as actor appearing in dramas in the late 1940s and made his debut in films in 1951 with Rakthabanthanam. He had acted in more than 250 films in his long career playing diverse roles from villain to comedian. Some of his notable films are: In Harihara Nagar Chemmeen, Aniyan Bava Chetan Bava, Aniathipravu and Meleparambil Aanveedu. Bharathan was active in films till 2009 and Changathipootha was his last film. Statesman (20 August 2015) Internet

REVIEW/DEVELOPMENT IN STATE

KARNATAKA

Kannada Film Bodies penalised for dubbing

The Competition Commission of India has penalised the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce, the Karnataka Television Association (KTVA) and the Kannada Film Producers Association (KFPA) for their involvement in activities that restricted the telecast of content in the form of television programmes and films of some other languages dubbed into Kannada language. Deccan Herald (27 August 2015)

8