Ahmedabad: The third Chitra Bharati Short Film Festival concluded on February 23 at the Convention Centre of Gujarat University with the presentation of awards in different categories and cultural programmes. The Film Festival witnessed a galaxy of eminent personalities from Bollywood and other spheres of life. They included Union Minister of State for Shipping, Chemical and Fertilizers Mansukh Laxmanbhai Mandaviya, Law Minister of Gujarat Bhupendrasinh Chudasama, Parul Bose, Abbas-Mastan, Gujarati film director Abhishek Jain, film actress and producer Arti Patel, director of Gujarati film ‘Hellaro’ Abhishek Shah, member of Censor Board Prashant Deshpande, director Abhishek Singh, etc. An exhibition on the history of Indian films was also organised.
A total of 28 awards were presented at the concluding ceremony. They included seven in short film category, six in campus professional film category, six in the non-campus professional category, four in animation and six in the documentary category. The first, second and third awards in short film category went to Rajeev Upadhyaya for ‘Ek Kadam’, Nithish Sridhar for ‘Anavarana’ and Ashish Kumar for ‘Kitna Pani’ respectively. The award for best director went to Subrivasan Shanmugam for ‘Talk to Me Precious’, while the award for best actor (male) went to Srini for ‘Edhu Thevalyo’, best actor (female) to Renuka Shahane for ‘Ek Kadam’ and Gabriella for ‘Talk to Me Precious’.
The first, second and third awards in campus film category (professional) went to Prince Meeruthiya for ‘Chidibaaz’, Bibhanshu Rai for ‘Wait’ and Ramesh Laxmanrao Holbole for ‘Village in the Sky’ respectively. The award for best director went to Uthkarsh Balaram for ‘Naan Devru’, while the award for best actor went to Manav for ‘Chidibaaz’ and Nidhi Hegde for ‘Naan Devru’.
The first, second and third awards in campus film category (non-professional) went to Aanchal Chawla for ‘Licensed’, Deepak Tamta for ‘Tandav’ and Akash Ranjan for ‘The Virtual Trap’ respectively. The award for best director went to Deepak Tamta for ‘Tandav’, while the award for best actor female went to Raju Chuahan for ‘I am not Sorry’.
The award for best film in animation category went to Abhishek Pandey (MAAC), ‘Ooh Shit’ and Saurabh Roy Chodhary (MAAC) for ‘Ya Devi’ and Danish Kelkar for ‘Dustbin’ and Umesh Panigrahi (MAAC) for ‘Female’.
The award for the best documentary film went to Ashutosh Pattnaik for ‘Shrikshetra Ru Sahujata’, Madhu Meenachil for ‘Orma Maram’ and Shivansh Khanna for ‘Kashmir ki Virasat’. The special jury mention awards went to Harshada Desai and Sagar Sureja for ‘The Preamble’, Diksha Kohli for ‘Nanhi Pariyon ki Udaan’ and Sudipto Sen for ‘Guruji-Ahead of Times’. RSS Sahsarkaryavah Dr Manmohan Vaidya, Akhil Bharatiya Prachar Pramukh Shri Arun Kumar, Akhil Bharatiya Sah Prachar Pramukh Shri Narendra Kumar and veteran Sangh Pracharak Shri Madhubhai Kulkarni were also present.
The Film Festival was inaugurated by Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and Bollywood filmmaker Subhash Ghai on February 21. The festival witnessed around 140 films under four categories namely short film, documentary, animation and campus film. Some of the main themes were Indian culture and values, constructive work, Indian family, social harmony and national security.
The first festival was held in Indore in 2016 and the second was held in Delhi in 2018. “The Bharatiya Chitra Sadhana was created in 2016 to encourage films promoting ancient and modern Bharatiya values and philosophy. We want Bharat to be the leading nation of the world in the field of films promoting integral humanism, thereby re-establishing the supremacy of Bharatiya ethos and philosophy,” a press release from Bharatiya Chitra Sadhana said. The prime objective of the festival is to establish a Bharatiya narrative in Indian cinema. The themes for the festival include folk art, trees, constructive work, Bharatiya culture, and values, Bharatiya family, social harmony, water, women, national security, valour, nationhood, and education for nation-building.
In his inaugural speech, Shri Rupani congratulated the audience on International Mother Tongue Day and praised the Bharatiya Chitra Sadhna for promoting Indian culture and values through this film festival. “The beginning of this film festival on Shivratri is a good indication. The films have a huge influence on society. There is a need to strengthen the society without harming its basic character. We also need to keep the nation first in all our deeds. Only then we shall truly be able to move forward the nation,” Shri Rupani added.
Among those who attended the opening ceremony of the film festival were Bollywood filmmaker Subhash Ghai and Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) chief Prasoon Joshi. The Festival began with the screening of short films. It was followed by Master Class joined by Dilip Shukla and Mihir Bhuta. Dilip Shukla is a noted scriptwriter and director of Bollywood. He has scripted many hit movies like Ghayal, Andaz Apana-Apna, Damini, Dabang, etc. During the interaction with the audience, he raised many significant aspects of the cinema. The audience understood many aspects of films. They also enjoyed the exhibition.
Mayor of Ahmedabad Bijalben Patel, Vice Chancellor of Gujarat University Shri Himanshubhai Pandya, former Vice Chancellor of Makhanlal Chaturvedi Rashtriya Patrakarita Vishwavidyalaya Shri BK Kuthiala, noted film director Shri Subhash Ghai, Chairman of Central Board of Film Certification Shri Prasoon Joshi and others were also present.
Shri Subhash Ghai said cinema is not just the medium of entertainment alone, it is the medium of man-making. Inspiring stories play a significant role in man-making. That is why we still follow Ramayana, Mahabharata, etc. He said as people do not have time for long-duration films, short films attract a huge audience. Therefore, the Short Film Festival by Bharatiya Chitra Sadhna is a welcome and timely step.
Shri Prasoon Joshi referred to the democratisation of the stage. “There was a time when some people had a monopoly over the stage. But today anybody can tell his/her story. However, this democratisation has some negative aspects also. Hence, the challenge before the films is how to spread a positive message. We cannot show the soul of Bharat until the filmmakers from small villages and towns come forward. The platform like Bharatiya Chitra Sadhna should be welcomed for discovering and nurturing the talent.
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