VOL.LIX January 2016 No. 1 HIGHLIGHTS Padma Awards announced Panel set up to revamp Censor Board Entries invited for National Film Awards Award announced for most film friendly state st 61 Filmfare Awards presented Aruna Vasudev gets four Lifetime Achievement Awards in a year Rekha honoured with Yash Chopra Memorial award 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 Delhi-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 1-2 AWARDS International 5-6 National 2-3 Private 4-7 FESTIVALS/RETROSPECTIVES Bimal Roy 6 Chennai 3-4 OBITUARIES 8-9 REVIEW/DEVELOPMENT 1-3 REVIEW/DEVELOPMENT IN STATES 9-10 REVIEW/DEVELOPMENT Padma Awards announced The government has announced the Padma Awards on January 26, 2016. These awards are conferred annually on civilians for their exemplary contribution to their respective area of activity. The film personalities who have been honoured this year include:- Padma Vibhushan Rajinikanth (film actor) Padma Bhushan Anupam Kher (film actor) and Udit Naryan (Playback singer) Padma Shri Ajay Devgn (actor and filmmaker), , Nil Madhab Panda (film director), S.S. Rajamouli (film director), Priyanka Chopra (film actress) and Saeed Jaffrey (film actor) (Posthumous) Dainik Jagran (26 January 2016) Tribune (26 January 2016) Panel set up to revamp Censor Board The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has constituted a committee headed by eminent filmmaker Shyam Benegal to look into the revamp of the Censor Board, functioning of which has been mired in controversies in recent past. The panel, which would submit its report in two months, includes filmmaker Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, Adman Piyush Pandey and film critic Bhawana Somaaya. Apart from these, National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) Managing Director Nina Lath Gupta and Joint Secretary (films) in the ministry, Sanjay Murthy would also be part of the committee Actor film maker Kamal Hassan and director Gautam Ghosh have been later additions to the committee. 1 Bulletin on Film, January 2016 The recommendations of this committee are expected to provide a holistic framework and enable those tasked with the work of certification of films to discharge their responsibilities keeping in view this framework. During their deliberations the committee would be expected to take note of the best practices in various parts of the world, especially where the film industry is given sufficient and adequate space for creative and aesthetic expression. Asian Age (2 January 2016) Deccan Herald (2 January 2016) Economic Times (2 January 2016) Telegraph (2 January 2016) Times of India (1 January 2016) Entries invited for National Film Awards Directorate of Film Festivals, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has invited entries for the 63rd National Film Awards. Feature and Non feature films certified by the Central Board of Film Certification, between 1st January 2015 and 31st December 2015 (both days inclusive) are eligible for entry. All films must have English subtitles Books and articles/reviews on cinema published between 1st January 2015 and 31st December 2015 (both days inclusive) are eligible for entry. Hindu (9 January 2016) Hindustan Times (9 January 2016) Award announced for most film-friendly state The Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has announced that the government of India will confer an award titled ‘Most Film Friendly State’ on a state 2 Bulletin on Film, January 2016 government to acknowledge its efforts towards the direction of ease of doing business in respect of film shootings by Indian/foreign filmmakers and for creating a conducive environment towards promotion of Indian Cinema. The award shall consist of a Rajat Kamal and certificate. The award shall be a part of the National Film Awards given annually. Hindustan Times (20 January 2016) Internet AAWARDS/FESTIVAL 13th Chennai International Film Festival held The 13th Chennai International Film Festival was held from January 6-13, 2016. The festival was organized by the Indo-Cine Appreciation Foundation. Around 180 films from 50 countries were screened in various sections of the festival. The festival was inaugurated at the Woodlands theatre in Rayapeeth Victoria was the opening film of the festival. The World Cinema had 120 critically acclaimed films which have also won awards at Oscars, Cannes and Berlin. The Country Focus this year was on China and Venezuela. The Chinese films were:- Painted Skin: The Resurrection, Mulan, Lost in Thailand and So Young . The films from Venezuela were:- Reveron, Rumble of the Stones, The House at the end of the Times, The Madness of the Parrot, The Apple Tree and The Kid who Lies. A Retrospective of Germany’s iconoclastic film maker Rainer Werner Fassbinder was organized in which his films Martha, Fontane Effi Briest, The Marriage of Martha Braun, Lili Marleen, Lola, Veronika Voss and I Don’t Want You to Just Love Me were screened. Another Retrospective featured films of Danish auteur Nils Malmros. The films in this section were:- Tree of Knowledge, Sorrow and Joy, Arhus by Night, Facing the Truth, Aching Heels and Barbara. 3 Bulletin on Film, January 2016 To celebrate 120 years of Buster Keoton 6 of his films were screened including:- The Saphead, Three Ages, The General, College, Steamboat Bill Jr, and Stolen Jools. The Indian Panorama showcased the best of regional cinema. Ten films were screened in this section including: Nanu Avanalla… Avalu ( Kannada), Anwar ka Ajab Kissa (Hindi), Rajkahini (Bengali), Nachom-ia Kumpasar (Konkani), Priyamanasam (Sanskrit), Ottal (Malayalam), Cinemawala (Bengali), Masaan (Hindi), Dau Huduni Methai (Bodo), Court (Marathi) and The Letter Box (Bengali). There were 12 films in the Tamil competition including:- 36 Vayathinley, Chennai Ungalaianbudan, Charles Shaffiq Karthiga, Kirumi, Kathirvaranin, Maya, Orange Mittai Oattathoodhuvan, Pisasu, Radiopeti, Thakka Thakka and Thani Oruvan. Tribute was paid to K. Balachander and Manorama by screening eight films. These were:- Achamillai Achamillai, Agni Satchi, Oru Veedu Iru Vassal, Unnal Mudiyum Thambi, Sidhi Bhairavi, Major Chandrakanth, Avaloruthodar Kathai and Samsaram Adhu Minsaram. In addition a special section was devoted to student films where 11 short films made by students of MGR Government Film and Television Institute were screened. Hindu (29 November 2015) (30 December 2015) (7 January 2016) Internet 61st Filmfare Awards presented The 61st Filmfare Awards were held to honour the best films of 2015 from the Hindi language film industry on the 15th of January 2016 at the Prince Ahuja Studio in Mumbai. Bajirao Mastani by Sanjay Leela Bhansali won as many as nine awards. The detailed list is as follows: 1. Best Film Bajirao Mastani 2. Best Director Sanjay Leela Bhansali 3. Best Actor in a Lead role Ranveer Singh for Bajirao Mastani 4. Best Actress in a Lead role Deepika Padukone for Piku 5. Best Supporting Actor Anil Kapoor for Dil Dhadakne Do 4 Bulletin on Film, January 2016 6. Best Supporting Actress Priyanka Chopra for Bajirao Mastani 7. Best Male Debut Sooraj Pancholi for Hero 8. Best Female Debut Bhumi Pednekar for Dum Laga Ke Haisha 9. Best Music Director Ankit Tiwari Meet Brothers and Anjjan and Amaal Malik for Roy 10. Best Lyricist Irshad Kamil for Tamasha 11. Best Playback Singer (Male) Arijit Singh for Sooraj Dooba Hai in Roy 12. Best Playback Singer (Female) Shreya Ghoshal for Deewani Mastani in Bajirao Mastani 13. Critics’ award for the best movie (best Piku – Shoojit Sircar director) 14. Critics Award for Best Actor Amitabh Bachchan for Piku 15. Critics Award for Best Actress Kangana Ranaut for Tanu Weds Manu Returns 16. Best Story K. V. Vijayendra Prasad for Bajrangi Bhaijaan 17. Best Screenplay Juhi Chaturvedi for Piku 18. Best Dialogue Himanshu Sharma for Tanu Weds Manu Returns 19. Best Editing A Sreekar Prasad for Talvar 20. Best Choreography Birju Maharaj for Mohe Rang Do Laal in Bajirao Mastani 21. Best Cinematography Manu Anand in Dum Laga Ke Haisha 22. Best Production Design Sujeet Sawant, Sriram Iyengar and Saloni Dhatrak for Bajirao Mastani 23. Best Sound Design Shajith Koyeri for Talvar 24. Best Costume Design Anju Modi and Maxima Basu for Bajirao Mastani 25. Best Background Score Anupam Roy for Piku 26. Best Special Effects Prana Studios for Bombay Velvet 27. Best Action Sham Kaushal for Bajirao Mastani 28. Lifetime Achievement Award Moushumi Chatterjee 29 R.D. Burman Award Armaan Malik` 30. Best Debut Director Neeraj Ghaywan for Masaan Hindustan Times (17 January 2016) Internet Aruna Vasudev gets four Lifetime Achievement Awards in 1 year Aruna Vasudev, who has been described as the ‘Mother of Asian Cinema’ and whose name figures prominently in the volume Asian Women in Film was presented a record four 5 Bulletin on Film, January 2016 Lifetime Achievement Awards in 2015-from Iran, South Korea, Sri Lanka and Hawaii. This year also happens to be the 25th anniversary of NETPAC, the organization Aruna founded to forward the cause of Asian films. She was also behind the Cinemaya Festival of Asian Cinema. She had earlier been awarded the Star of Italian solidarity and the Chevalier of Arts and Letters from France. The Tripoli Film Festival has named its prize for Best Writing on Cinema as the Aruna Vasudev Award. Asian Age (22 January 2016) Rekha gets Yash Chopra Memorial Award Actress Rekha was conferred with third Yash Chopra Memorial Award in Mumbai for her contribution to the film industry. The actress received the award from the Governor of Maharashtra Shri Vidyasagar Rao. The award has been instituted by T Subbarami Reddy’s TSR Foundation in the memory of late director –producer Yash Chopra. The award carries a gold medal and a cash prize of Rs.