Jagran Film Festival: Day 4

New Delhi: By end of Day three, filmgoers had become used to the variety of Indian and international films and a host of useful workshops, debates discussions and interesting exchange of ideas. And Day four was more than just the extension of this exciting filmy extravaganza. It was a day when cine goers were treated to a delectable mix of genres, languages including Dutch, Spanish, Finnish, Portugese, Russian, French and even Malyalam and Hindi. And adding some more zing to the larger than life festival were sessions with eminent master craftsmen of the film and entertainment industry.

Internationally acclaimed film ‘How to Describe a Cloud’ marked the onset of Day four at PVR Andheri. Director David Verbeek’s 80 minute coming of age Dutch drama made its India debut at PVR today. Variety was the order of the day as director Arto Halonen’s ‘A Patriotic Man’ followed right after. This 97 minute Finnish comedy made its Asian Premiere followed by Director Marcelo Gomez’s Brazilian drama ‘The Man of the Crowd’ with a runtime of 95 minutes. Director Rajat Kapoor’s 107 minute poignant slice of life film‘Ankhon Dekhi’ added an Indian flavor to the diverse global lineup. But before calling it a day PVR’s big screen brought another Asian premiere, an 85 minute Russian master piece ‘Break Loose’ by director Aleksey Uchital.

The day also offered a kaleidoscopic view of Indian cinema starting from novice director Sanjeev Gupta’s debut film ‘Q’. Besides, the Indian showcase also featured Anurag Singh’s Punjabi period drama ‘Punjab 1984’, Pradeep Sarkar’s Rani Mukherjee starrer ‘Mardaani’and Feroze Abbas Khan’s social and political satire ‘Dekh Tamasha Dekh’. But a film that touched a chord with every cinema lover on day four was the 1967 film ‘Upkar’. The legendary actor Pran  known for his offbeat portrayals in a negative shade was missed and remembered as Jagran paid a sincere homage to this barkhurdaar of all times.

​True to being a melting pot of the world cinema, the day at Cinemax Versova began with ‘Cosi Fan Tutte’, a French retrospective from legendary director Patrice Chereau’s collection. To represent cinema of the uprising, a rare and distinguishable black & white film‘Chhatrapati Shivaji’ followed, a 170 minute biographical by Bhalji Pendharkar recounting the bravery of the Indian warrior king.  Bimal Roy’s 1953 film ‘Do Bigah Zameen’ as a retrospective from the Hindi cinema’s golden era, stood apart even after 60 years for painting a convincing picture of Indian village-life and rural values of the post independence era. No wonder the film had won the International Prize at the 1954 Cannes. The day towards its end took the viewers back to the 18^th century with a 200 minute Malyalam film ‘Kerala Verma Pazhassi Raja’ presenting cinema of the uprising.​