Lonavala film fest pays tribute to NN Sippy

Masterpieces of the late NN Sippy like Woh Kaun Thi, Gumnaam, Devata, Sargam, Fakira, Chor Machaaye Shor are being screened at the 5th Lonavala International Film Festival India (LIFFI) 2020.

The festival director is Madhav Todi and the festival has been curated by Viveck Vaswani. LIFFI also has eminent panelists like Ananth Mahadevan, music composer duo Anand-Milind, Pravesh Sippy, and Divya Solgama amongst others.

In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, the films are being screened online.

During the closing weekend, 11-13 December, rich tributes would be paid to NN Sippy.

A prolific film producer and distributor, NN Sippy had launched several people in Bollywood.

His film Chor Machaye Shor launched composer Ravindra Jain and gave a new lease of life to director Ashok Roy and actor Shashi Kapoor. Fakira became the commercial launch pad for Shabana Azmi. Kalicharan made Shatrughan Sinha and debutant director Subhash Ghai household names. Ghar won Rekha the Filmfare Award and the prestigious National Award also. Devata proved that Danny Dezongapa, a typecast villain, can wholeheartedly be accepted in a positive role.

“We have not let the pandemic break our spirit and hence are conducting the festival online this year. We wanted to continue our endeavour of entertaining and educating the people of India with interesting films and interactive master classes and workshops. This year we can’t organise a physical edition, though we have tried our best to put together an interesting selection for everyone to enjoy with their family from the comfort of their homes,” Todi said