Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; November 21, 2019)

The opening ceremony of the 50th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) flagged off in Goa at the Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee stadium on Wednesday. Among the first guests to arrive on the red carpet was Karan Johar, who hosted the ceremony, followed by Rajinikanth, who was honoured with the ‘Icon of the Golden Jubilee’ Award and rushed in without stopping for a byte.

Soon after, Amitabh Bachchan who had skipped the Kolkata International Film Festival following a health scare, strode in with the Chief Minister of Goa, Pramod Sawant. Immediately, Gabriele Donnini, an actor from the opening Italian film, Despite The Fog, who was explaining why it was an important film, was cut short in mid-sentence as the hosts turned to effusively welcome the Big B. The 77-year-old actor spoke about his 50-year run in Hindi cinema and reminisced about shooting his debut film, Saat Hindustani, in Goa.

Among the other guests were filmmakers Ramesh Sippy, Subhash Ghai, Madhur Bhandarkar, Nitesh Tiwari, Siddharth Roy Kapur, Priyadarshan and Rahul Rawail. Foreign dignitaries, included director of Despite The Fog, Goran Paskaljevic, and Lifetime Achievement Awardee French actress Isabelle Huppert. The former had not prepared a speech but appealed everyone to see his film which revolves around the crisis of minor refugees in Europe. “Happy to be here even though we’ve slept for just three hours,” he joked.

The event kick-started with a tribute to former Goa CM Manohar Parrikar, followed by the lamp being lit. Singer-composer Shankar Mahadevan’s fusion act blended the rhythms of India with international beats. His performance, which also included “Breathless” got a standing ovation from Minister of Information & Broadcasting, Prakash Javadekar, Bachchan, Rajinikanth and the audience present there. His closing act also included “Mile Sur Mera Tumhara” in the presence of original arranger Louis Banks.

Rajinikanth received his award from the Big B, whom he called his “inspiration,” and dedicated it to his producers, directors, technicians and his fans. The Thalaiva, along with the ministers, then honoured Bachchan who, in his thank you speech, admitted that both Rajini and he give each other advice.

“It’s a separate topic that we never listen to it. However, we still advice each other, as I feel relationships are made of this,” he stated.

Shraddha Kapoor on training for Amole Gupte's Saina biopic and the Prabhas-starrer trilingual for which she is learning Telugu
Sanyukta Iyer (MUMBAI MIRROR; November 24, 2017)

Over 4000 Goans queued up to catch a glimpse of Shraddha Kapoor, who was hard to miss at the sea-facing Bioscope Village in Panjim. The 30-year-old actress, accompanied by aunt Padmini Kolhapure, was to meet Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar and inaugurate a mobile theatre at an Entertainment Society of Goa event. Also present at the event were filmmaker Subhash Ghai.

During the three-hour visit to the state, Shraddha crooned "Galliyaan" for her fans and binged on Goan delicacies with her actress-aunt. "This reminds me of the time we filmed Aashiqui 2 here," she gushed. Her schedule may have been choc-o-bloc but Shraddha reveals to Mirror that she is on a month-long break from Amole Gupte's biopic on badminton ace Saina Nehwal, for which she had been undergoing rigorous training till recently. "The sport is just amazing. It makes me feel energised, alive and also de-stressed. But recently, I injured my foot so I am on a break from badminton. I will resume practice as soon as I get the all-clear from the doctor," she adds.

Then, there's the Prabhas-starrer, the Tamil-Telugu-Hindi trilingual Saaho, which is being shot simultaneously in all the three languages with Shraddha dubbing for her own dialogue in Telugu. "I am enjoying the process of delivering my own lines in a different language. I find it easier because I speak Marathi, thanks to my mom (Shivangi Kapoor) and aunts. Also, growing up in a bit of a cocktail set-up of Punjabis (father Shakti Kapoor's side) and Maharashtrians, one tends to pick up words from different languages. I am ready to dub in the other South Indian languages too. If my director (Sujeeth) asks me, I'm up for it," Shraddha asserts.

The actress shoots down reports that suggested she had reservations about the film before coming on board. "Not at all," she is quick on the uptake, adding, "I said 'yes' immediately and was thrilled with the narration. It's a fabulous script."

Her last four releases — Rock On 2, OK Jaanu, Haseena Parker and Half Girlfriend — were lavishly-mounted productions that failed to live up to expectations at the box-office. Quite uncharacteristically for an actress, Shraddha doesn't avoid the topic. "My initial films — Aashiqui 2, EK Villain, and, even a year ago Baaghi — did phenomenally well. So anything that does not match up to those numbers gets viewed as a project that fell short," she reasons, subsequently recalling how she was ready to walk away from Bollywood after her debut film, Teen Patti, tanked. "But I stuck it out and worked really hard. Regardless how my films fared, the love I have received is priceless. Ups and down are a part of life but I just hope I keep making everyone proud," she signs off with a smile.

Ankur Pathak (MUMBAI MIRROR; November 21, 2014)

The Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Stadium in Panjim, Goa, was buzzing with electric energy as two Indian megastars - Rajinikanth and Amitabh Bachchan - shared the stage at the inaugural ceremony of the International Film Festival of India on Thursday.

While Big B was the chief guest, Rajinikanth was awarded the Centenary Award for Film Personality of the Year. He graciously bowed down to touch Bachchan's feet, saying, "He's my big brother." When asked to make a speech, the Southern legend, who was accompanied by wife Latha, joked, "I thought I only had to collect the award." He then dedicated the award to his "directors, producers and fans".

Big B, who was without the missus, made up for Rajini's reticence with a lengthy speech. He reminisced about shooting his debut film Saat Hindustani in Goa, before giving a 'masterclass on the history of Indian cinema,' as hosts Anupam Kher and Raveena Tandon described it.

Also present at the ceremony was former Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar who said, "I had given in writing that we will make the impossible happen and we have. Not only do we have two living legends--Rajinikanth and Amitabh Bachchan - amongst us, but Goa has become a permanent venue for IFFI, something which wasn't the case earlier."

He added, "I love Goa so much that I don't feel like going to Delhi," a reference to his new post at the Centre as the Defence Minister.

China is the focus country at this year's edition and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon star Zhang Zhiyi did a good job of representing the nation in a scarlet gown.

The indulgent applause died down when Information & Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley, who asserted that the Indian film industry has come of age, introduced Hong Kong-based filmmaker Wong Karwai, recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award, as a "noted Chinese filmmaker." Unaware of the goof-up, he then proceeded to introduce the jury members.

Other noted names who were present at the ceremony were, Vishal Bhardwaj, who was spotted with Gulzar. Actor Satish Kaushik, Minister of State for I&B Rajyavardhan Rathore, Goa's chief minister Laxmikant Parsekar and the state's governor Mridula Sinha, were among the attendees.

The opening film of the 11-day festival was Iranian filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf's The President. It will conclude with Wong Kar-Wai's The Grandmaster.