Inaugurating the 51st International Film Festival of India (IFFI) right here on Saturday, Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Prakash Javadekar, introduced a brand new ‘Indian Personality of the Year’ award, which he introduced was being conferred upon veteran actor, director and singer Biswajit Chatterjee.
During his deal with, Javadekar additionally made a robust pitch for the movie trade in addition to different personal firms to start out taking part within the annual competition from its subsequent version.
Javadekar mentioned Chatterjee might be offered the award in March, together with winners of the National Film Awards.Chatterjee had contested the 2014 basic elections from a Delhi seat on a Trinamool Congress ticket however had joined the BJP in February 2019. IFFI additionally selected Bangladesh because the nation in focus for this 12 months. During his deal with, Javadekar mentioned that to mark the a centesimal delivery anniversary of Bangladesh’s first president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, India and Bangladesh might be co-producing a movie titled ‘Bangabandhu’.The ‘Lifetime Achievement’ this 12 months was given to Italian cinematographer Vittorio Storaro.Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, this 12 months’s competition — being held on the Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Indoor Stadium — is a mixture of digital and bodily screenings of movies. It normally takes place in November yearly however was delayed as a result of pandemic. The competition this 12 months obtained 600 worldwide entries and 190 Indian entries.
Speaking on the occasion, Javadekar additionally mentioned, “Every year, IFFI is organised by the Central government and Goa government. Why?,” he mentioned, including that “there should be participation from the film industry and other industries.”
“Just because it’s the government’s responsibility to ensure a thriving atmosphere and promotion of arts and culture, doesn’t mean the government should do everything,” he added.