When Nandita Danced To Kudi Gujarat Di

Nandita
Das
and
filmmaker
Sudhir
Mishra
were
recently
seen
rocking
to
the
songs
of
Jasbir
Jassi,
especially
his
hit
number

Kudi
Gujarat
Di.
Also
in
the
audience,
were
filmmakers
like
Hansal
Mehta
and
Honey
Trehan.

They
were
in
Chandigarh
for
the
second
edition
of
Cinévesture
International
Film
Festival
(CIFF),
founded
by
Nina
Lath
Gupta,
who
was
also
the
force
behind
the
establishment
of
the
Film
Bazaar,
the
first
film
market
in
India,
now
held
annually
in
Goa
as
a
parallel
event
to
the
International
Film
Festival
of
India.

Das
was
at
CIFF
to
talk
to
potential
investors
about
her
next
project.

Avi
&
Smi,
her
fourth
film
as
a
director,
is
about
a
couple
who
revisit
their
16-year-old
marriage,
after
a
separation
of
six
months.

The
four-day
film
festival
was
packed
with
so
many
other
new
projects,
like
Radhika
Apte’s
first
directorial
effort

Koyta,
with
Vikramaditya
Motwane
as
the
producer,
Venkatesh
Maha’s

Ko
Ko
Ko,
Jeo
Baby’s

Punishment
and
Shonali
Bose’s

Black
Mountain
Monpa.

Since
CIFF
was
held
in
Punjab,
there
were
also
a
couple
of
projects
based
in
that
state:
Trehan’s

The
Blade
Runner,
which
will
be
produced
by
Abhishek
Chaubey
and
Ajitpal
Singh’s
next
feature

Marx
and
Lenin,
with
publicist
Mauli
Singh
attached
as
the
producer.

“I
look
at
every
film
as
a
startup,”
Gupta
said,
adding
that
she
launched
CIFF
as
a
network
for
potential
investors
in
films.

“You
can
decide
to
invest
in
five
films
and
spread
your
risks
in
all
of
them.
But
at
the
end
of
the
day,
they
are
all
startups.
It’s
not
an
easy
business
to
be
in.
But
if
you
do
a
risk
mitigation
strategy
by
curating
projects,
with
filmmakers
who
have
a
box
office
story
to
tell
in
terms
of
successes,
then
it
becomes
easier
for
an
investor
to
come
into
an
industry
that
is
considered
to
be
very
opaque.”

By
the
mood
and
the
programming
of
the
festival,
Gupta
has
brought
a
gift
to
the
people
of
Chandigarh,
which
is
also
her
hometown.

The
sessions
and
conversations
were
attended
by
local
actors
and
film
personalities,
including
a
packed
one
with
Ammy
Virk
of

Bad
Newz
fame.
The
session
was
so
popular
that
even
a
number
of
Sikh
policemen
listened
in
to
the
singer-actor.

“There’s
an
entire
industry
outside
of
Chandigarh
in
Mohali,
with
producers
like
Gunbir
Sidhu
who
has
made
the

Jatt
and
Juliet
series,”
Gupta
said.
“In
how
many
industries
do
you
see
pop
stars
turn
into
superstars
in
acting?
They
have
two
parallel
careers.
They
continue
singing
while
acting
in
films.”

The
big
part
of
the
gift
to
the
people
of
Chandigarh
was
the
main
film
festival
that
ran
parallel
to
the
panels
and
industry
market
sessions.
Curated
by
Festival
Director
V
S
Kundu,
former
director
general
of
Films
Division,
and
artistic
director
Bina
Paul,
who
has
also
headed
the
programing
operations
of
the
Dharamsala
International
Film
Festival
and
the
International
Film
Festival
of
Kerala,
the
CIFF
included
several
successful
films
that
have
played
internationally
(A
Normal
Family,

Dahomey,

Little
Jaffna)
and
new
Indian
cinema
(Dibakar
Banerjee’s

Tees,
which
was
initially
intended
to
stream
on
Netflix
until
the
platform
walked
away
from
the
film
and
Tigmanshu
Dhulia’s

Ghamasaan).

There
were
conversations
with
actors
like
Rasika
Dugal,
Shweta
Tripathi,
Shriya
Pilgaonkar,
Shashank
Arora,
Nandita
Das
and
the
the
newest
acting
talent
from
the
Kapoor
clan,
Zahan
Kapoor.

On
the
last
day
of
the
festival,
Boman
Irani
ran
a
packed
scriptwriting
masterclass.
For
over
two
hours,
Irani
stood
on
his
feet
and
kept
his
audience
riveted
as
he
talked
about
the
key
elements
of
writing
a
script.

Since
the
start
of
the
pandemic,
Irani
has
been
conducting
online
script-writing
workshops
attended
by
hundreds
of
people
around
the
world.

His
workshops
are
always
free
and
it
is
his
way
to
give
back
to
his
young
fans
and
audience.

“It’s
good
for
my
soul,”
Irani
said.