India Film Project concluded its 9th season with the celebration of creative minds

Happiness, enthusiasm and festive fervour prevailed over the last weekend at Mumbai’s Mehboob Studios as Asia’s largest content festival India Film Project was concluded with much fanfare. One of the most anticipated events of the year IFP, in its 9th edition, witnessed over 35000 participants from across the boundaries and over 100 celebrities from films, digital, music and literature. The attendants amassed valuable insights from the masterclasses, celebrity panel discussions and numerous workshops. The sessions highlighted the various nuisances of the artistic, storytelling and creative aspects of filmmaking.

Talking about the much-awaited event, Ritam Bhatnagar, Founder, India Film Project, said, “I am overwhelmed by the response that we have received for IFP this year. This festival was conceptualised to offer a learning & networking opportunity across all domains of films, digital, literature and music.. Filmmaking and creative arts in India have come a long way, and it’s great to witness young minds illustrating their narratives. The success of this season has yet again proved that good storytelling can come from anywhere & can transcend existing boundaries of thought and imagination.”

Nikhil Taneja, festival creative director said "Every year, it is so gratifying to see yet again that India Film Project has become the one-stop destination for over 12,000 young people from 130 cities across the country, to learn from, interact with and collaborate on other young and old filmmakers and film fans like them. This year, we saw full houses for masterclasses and conversations featuring legends like Naseeruddin Shah, Javed Akhtar and Manoj Bajpayee and for youth icons like Zakir Khan, Prajakta Koli, Kusha Kapila and Ishaan Khatter. Every conversation was house full, every masterclass was overbooked and every workshop found massive attendance. It means so much to us that this is the only youth festival in the country that appeals to both the minds and the hearts of the people. We are so grateful to everyone who attended and we can't wait for Season 10 next year!"

Sharin Bhatti, festival curator for literature and music said "I am thrilled and delighted to have had the opportunity to curate the literature and music conversations for India Film Project in their 9th year. The idea was to get the best in their craft to gather on stage and engage in

meaningful and relevant conversations for the creators of tomorrow. It was endearing to see the reactions of all the participants. From Devdutt Pattanaik to Shelleji, screenwriter Kamna Chandra with her talented daughters Tanuja Chandra and Anupama Chopra to Harinder Sikka and Female authors. Naezy to Ritviz, spoken word artists to lyricists- the range of conversations were truly entertaining and rewarding. I hope to continue working with IFP to keep getting cooler and bigger artists and creators on the same stage."

The two-day content festival witnessed speakers from different fields of art ranging from films, comics, literature, music and hosted a series of interesting conversations, AMA’s and workshops. Celebrities like Rajkumar Rao, Javed Akhtar, Naseeruddin Shah, Manoj Bajpayee, Swara Bhaskar, Ishaan Khatter, Jim Sarbh, Vikramaditya Motwane, Nitesh Tiwari, Radhika Madan, Kirti Kulhari, Anand Gandhi, Devdutt Pattnaik, Ravinder Singh, Abish Mathew, Zakir Khan, Prajakta Koli, Kusha Kapila, Aparshakti Khurana, Divya Dutta, Abhishek Chaubey, Apurva Asrani, Ritviz, Anupama Chopra, Divya Dutta, Kubrra Sait, Sumukhi Suresh, Beer Biceps, Flying Beast, Ravinder Singh, The Jordindian, Be YouNick and many more have shared their experiences with the audiences present at the venue.

Veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah spoke at the conversation titled ‘Making of a Legend – A Masterclass in acting’ whereas the conversation titled ‘Cardinal Sins of Cinema’ witnessed legendary writer-lyricist Javed Akhtar as a guest speaker talking about the golden era of cinema and how every decade has it's good and bad aspects. Segment moderated by Faridoon Shahryar, ‘The Showcase: Sheer Qorma’ saw actors Divya Dutta & Swara Bhaskar along with the makers Faraz Ansari and Marijke D’Souza giving an ode to female queer love story and unveiling the movie poster. The conversation titled – ‘Cultural Impact: What is the key to creating Authentic and real LGBTQ characters on screen’ witnessed Kubra Sait, Apurva Asrani, and Onir as panellists. The session moderated by Renil Abraham spoke about the portrayal of the LGBTQ characters on screen and their characterization. Aparshakti Khurrana moderated of Manoj Bajpayaee titled as ‘Signature Masterclass: The Making of a Legend’.

The gala event was concluded with the award ceremony for 50 hours filmmaking challenge. This year Bollywood bigwigs Abhishek Chaubey, Pradeep Sarkar, Apurva Asrani, Bhavani Iyer, amongst others, were on board to judge the series of challenges.  Here is a comprehensive list of the winners: 

India Film Project has also joined hands with two giants of the entertainment industry, PVR Cinemas and MTV who were on board as partners this season. The winning titles will be theatrically released in PVR cinemas across Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi, Pune, Hyderabad, and Chandigarh. Furthermore, these movies will also be premiered on MTV over weekends on a prime-time slot for 6 months.

As this year’s edition of India Film Project marked its end, all those present at the event parted with a heart full of joy and memories to cherish.

India Film Project season 9 was presented by Signature, with a common aim to enable passionate creators by providing them a relevant platform.

EE News Desk

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