Tamil film 'Appatha' to mark curtain-up for SCO film festival in Mumbai

Tamil film Appatha would mark the curtain-up for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Film Festival being held from 27-31 January, 2023, in the entertainment capital of Mumbai.

Organised through the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC), the SCO Film Festival is being organized to mark India’s Presidency at SCO.

The festival will open with a world premiere of Tamil film Appatha, which is directed by Padma Shri and National award-winning filmmaker Priyadarshan.

The film features National award winning actor Urvashi in the lead role and will be benchmarked as her 700th film and 51 years in the Indian film industry.

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The Marathi film Godavari directed by Nikhil Mahajan and Gujarati Film The Last Film Show directed by Pan Nalin are nominated from India for the competition section.

Most acclaimed Marathi Film Godavari directed by Nikhil Mahajan and India’s official entry to the Oscars in the Best Foreign Language category, Chhello Show, a Gujarati film also known as Last Film Show will be screened in competition section.

Along with Marathi Film Godavari and Gujarati FILM Chhello Show, Shoojit Sircar's Sardar Udham, SS Rajamouli's period film RRR (country-focus), Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Gangubai Kathiawadi (Director Focus), Mridul Toolsidas's Toolsidas Junior (Children Focus) and Chetan Bhakuni’s short-film Jugalbandi will be showcased.

Moreover Five Restored Classics will also be showcased in the festival. These are: Shatranj ke khiladi (1977, Hindi), Subarnrekha (1965, Bengali), Chandralekha (1948, Tamil), Iru Kodgul (1969, Tamil) and Chidambaram (1985, Malayalam).

The Opening Ceremony will be held at Jamshed Bhabha Theatre, NCPA, Mumbai. Film festival screenings will take place at two locations in Mumbai auditoriums at the Film Division Complex at Pedder Road and NFDC Theater at Nehru Planetarium Building at Worli.

A total of 57 films to be showcased under competition and non-competition sections.

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In the competition section, 14 feature films are competing and will be screened and the Non-Competition section will showcase 43 Films.

“This film festival has been organized to mark India’s Presidency at SCO, which is a multilateral organization of eight countries. It is an offshoot of long-standing popularity of Indian films in the SCO member countries,” said Prithul Kumar, Joint Secretary (Films), Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, MD, NFDC and Festival Director.

The Festival Director further said that the SCO Film Festival aims to build cinematic partnerships and act as a bridge between the cultures of various countries in the SCO.

“It will also create synergies in the film fraternity of SCO Members by way of collective cinematic experience.The films being showcased in the SCO Film Festival, all brought by the SCO states, will allow spectators to experience different cultures and the films will be a window for people from the SCO countries to know each other better,” he said.

In SCO Country Focus films selected to represent the respective SCO country at the film festival. Thus, enabling exchange among the different countries and acting as a bridge between the cultures of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization members. There are 17 films in the SCO Country focus category.

There will be a session on “Rising Indian Cinema Popularity in SCO region” by filmmaker Rahul Rawail, Ramesh Sippy, and veteran actor and former Censor Board chief Asha Parekh and actor Chaitanya Chinchlikar

There will be a session on “Composing Music - Breaking Barriers” with the famous singer and jury of SCO film festival, Dimash Kudaibergen from Kazakhstan who is known for singing in over 13 languages in a variety of genres.

There will be a session on “Director’s Synergy - Collaborating Cultures, Characters and Countries” and a session on “Challenges & Scope of Promoting Festival Films in SCO Countries” with the eminent filmmakers from SCO countries.