Hindi
11th Mumbai International Film Festival receives record entries
NEW DELHI: The 11th edition of the Mumbai International Film Festival for Documentary, Short and Animation Films (MIFF), to be held in Mumbai next month, received 864 entries from 37 countries – an all time record.
Organised by the Films Division, MIFF will be held from 3 to 9 February at the prestigious National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA), Nariman Point, Mumbai.
The Selection Committee consisting of eminent filmmakers, journalists and critics had previewed the films, the total duration of which crosses more than 400 hours. A total of 64 films have been selected for the Competition Section and 43 films have been taken in the Non-Competition Section.
Films Division Chief Producer and Festival Director Kuldeep Sinha said, “MIFF, which began in 1990, is rated as one of the world’s best and largest documentary film festivals. It has now gained recognition on par with renowned International Film Festivals like Leipzig , Berlin, Oberhausen, Krakow and Tampere.
From this year, the International and Indian Competition Sections have been merged into one. Sinha said, “Indian documentary producers have now achieved high level of creative as well as technical excellence, to compete with the best in the world.”
He said the award money had been enhanced in each category, totaling to Rs 2.275 million. The best short film/documentary (upto 30 minutes) will be awarded a Golden Conch and Rs 3,00,000 cash prize. Another Golden Conch and Rs 3,00,000 award will be given to the best film/documentary over 30 minutes duration.
Awards are being given for the best animation film, fiction film, and student’s film. The Maharashtra Government’s Dadasaheb Phalke Chitranagari will give a Trophy and Rs 1,00,000 for the best debut director.
The “Dr. V. Shantaram Lifetime Achievement Award” will be awarded to an Indian filmmaker for his/her contribution to the documentary film movement, with cash award and trophy.
Apart from the Competition Section, there will be screening of Retrospectives and Special packages, Spectrum India, Seminars and Open Forum during MIFF 2010. Retrospectives and Special Packages include Jury’s retrospectives, Women packages, Oscar nominated films, immigration issues, environment, global warming, Cinema legends and icons of the Indian Freedom Movement. Films from Bhutan and Argentina figure in the country focus.
Other packages include Students’ films from L.V. Prasad Institute in Chennai, Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute of India in Kolkata, and National Institute of Design in Ahmedabad, films from North East India, treasures from the National Film Archives of India (NFAI) and Puppet Films.
The NFAI, Pune, will also stage a show of pre-cinema projection technique called ‘Shambharik Kharolika’ or the magic lantern (staged earlier at the International Film Festival of India in Goa in November 2009).
Hindi
Dhurandhar the revenge storms past Rs 1,000 crore in a week, rewrites box office records
Aditya Dhar’s spy thriller sets fastest run to Rs 1,000 crore with record-breaking weekday hold
MUMBAI: The box office has a new juggernaut—and it is moving at breakneck speed. Dhurandhar the revenge has smashed past the Rs 1,000 crore mark worldwide in just a week, clocking a staggering Rs 1,088 crore and resetting the rules of the blockbuster game.
Backed by Jio Studios and B62 Studios, and directed by Aditya Dhar, the spy action sequel opened to the biggest weekend ever for an Indian film globally—and then refused to slow down. Unlike typical tentpole releases that taper off after Sunday, this one powered through the weekdays with rare muscle, posting Rs 64 crore on Monday, Rs 58 crore on Tuesday, Rs 49 crore on Wednesday and Rs 53 crore on Thursday.
The numbers stack up to a formidable first-week haul. India collections stand at Rs 690 crore nett and Rs 814 crore gross, while overseas markets have chipped in Rs 274 crore, taking the worldwide total to Rs 1,088 crore in just eight days.
The film’s opening weekend alone delivered Rs 466 crore, laying the foundation for what is now being billed as the fastest climb to the Rs 1,000 crore club in Indian cinema. Every single day of its first week has set fresh benchmarks, from the highest opening weekend to the strongest weekday hold—metrics that typically separate hits from phenomena.
A sequel to the earlier hit Dhurandhar, the film has not just built on its predecessor’s momentum but obliterated previous records, emerging as the biggest global blockbuster run by an Indian film to date.
At this pace, the film is not merely riding a wave—it is creating one.
