Hindi
2nd edition of LIFF to premiere docu on Frontier Gandhi
NEW DELHI: A total of 115 films from fifteen countries will be screened at the second Ladakh International Film Festival (LIFF) being held early next month.
The films will be screened in five screens in Leh from 5 to 7 July, according to Festival founder and Festival Director Melwyn Chirayath who said the festival will be inaugurated by Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah and the awards on the closing day will be given away by Information and Broadcasting minister Manish Tewari.
The jury for LIFF 2013 will be headed by well known actor / Director Aparna Sen while members are Paul Smaczny (Emmy winner), Mathew Robbins (Palm d‘Or), Vimukhti Jayasundara (Palm d’Or), Alireza Shahrokhi (Iran) & Teri McLuhan (Canada).
Announcing the details, Chirayath said “Ladakh is a one of its kind place in India, known for its serene environment and brilliant landscape. LIFF, in its second year, will screen a cross section of films.”
These include international feature films, documentaries from India, short films (national – international) and Indian feature films.
In addition, there will be a retrospective on lyricist-filmmaker Gulzaar by Director/Producer Vishal Bharadwaj who had got his first major break in the former’s ‘Maachis’.
There is a section celebrating women through some of the finest women oriented films made in India.
Chirayath added that entries were received from close to 130 countries, after which the best were selected for the final showcase.
A major highlight is the green carpet premiere at LIFF 2013 of Teri Mc Luhan’s documentary ‘Frontier Gandhi’, on the forgotten freedom fighter, nationalist and peace advocate Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan. There will also be a special children’s section curated by Amole Gupte, Chairperson of the Children’s Film Society, India, which will feature six children’s films.
The Ladakhi section will include Tsering Motup Chospa’s feature film Lzadol (Broken piece of moon), with its central theme of women’s strength, patience and wit against the evils of the day. In addition 5 short films from Ladakh will also be premiered this year”
Mike Pandey, a specialist in wild life and environment films and a patron of the Festival, said the Directorate of Film Festivals had curated an eight-film package to mark 100 years Celebration stressing on Women in Cinema. These include Diamond Queen (Homi Wadia) Hindi 1940; Meghe Dhaka Tara (Ritwik Ghatak) Bengali 1960; Mirch Masala (Ketan Mehta) Hindi 1986; Dasi (B Narsing Rao) Telugu 1987; Dahan (Rituparno Ghosh) Bengali 1997;Chandni Bar (Madhur Bhandarkar) Hindi 2001; Mee Sindhutai Sapkal (Anant Mahadevan) Marathi 2010; and Byari (Suveeran( Byari 2011.
While renowned filmmaker Shyam Benegal, chairman of LIFF, said: “Apart from the fact that it is a festival that takes place in Leh on the roof of the world surrounded by the magnificent snow peaks of the Himalayan Zanskar range skirted by what appears to be a little fledgling river Indus which will soon become one of the great rivers of the sub-continent as it goes downstream. This is a veritable Shangri-la and the film festival is the latest of its cultural attractions. The venue of the festival is a large theatre on a hilltop built for this purpose by the state government with smaller halls surrounding it making for a perfect location for this delightful festival in the northernmost part of India.”
Vishal Bhardwaj, patron member of LIFF said: “To watch films in one of the most pristine landscapes in the world is a rare pleasure only the ladakh film festival offers. One walks out of the auditorium and is surrounded by mountains on all sides, it‘s almost surreal. What makes it even more special this year is the retrospective on Gulzar Saab, it will be an honor for me to curate this event which showcases some of his best work.” –
Shaji N Karun, patron member of LIFF referred to cinema being a tool to identify it in spiritual languages and said he believed that Ladakh is one of the most suitable places of our land for spirituality.”
In a music industry that often rewards speed, spectacle, and instant recall, Navjot Ahuja’s journey feels refreshingly different. His story is not built on noise. It is built on patience, discipline, emotional honesty, and a quiet commitment to becoming better with every passing year. After 14 years of struggle, learning, performing, and writing, Navjot stands today as an artist whose success has not changed his centre. If anything, it has only made his purpose clearer.
For Navjot, music has never been about chasing fame alone. It has always been about expression. It is about writing more truthfully, singing more skillfully, understanding himself more deeply, and becoming a kinder human being in the process. That rare clarity is what gives his journey its beauty.
Where It All Began: A Writer Before a Singer
Indian singer and songwriter Navjot Ahuja’s musical journey began in the most familiar of places: school assemblies. But even then, what was growing inside him was not only the desire to sing. It was the need to write.
Long before he saw himself as a performer, he had already discovered the emotional release that writing offered him. For Navjot, words became the first true channel for feeling. Songwriting came before singing because writing was the only way he could let emotions flow through him fully. That inner pull shaped his artistic identity early on.
Like many young musicians, he sharpened his craft by creating renditions of popular songs.
Those experiments became his training ground. But the turning point came in 2012, when he wrote his first original song. That moment did not just mark the beginning of songwriting. It marked the beginning of self-definition.
A Calling He Did Not Chase, But Accepted
What makes the latest Indian singer-songwriter Navjot’s story especially compelling is the way he describes his relationship with music. He does not frame it as a career he aggressively pursued. In his own understanding, music was not something he chose. It was something that chose him.
There was a time when he imagined a very different future for himself. He wanted to become a successful engineer, like many young people shaped by ambition and conventional expectations. But life had a different script waiting for him. During his college years, around 2021, music entered his life professionally and began taking a firmer shape.
That shift was not driven by image-building or industry ambition. It came from acceptance. Navjot embraced the fact that music had claimed him in a way no other path could. That sense of surrender continues to define the artist he is today.
An Artist Guided by Instinct, Not Influence
Unlike many singers who speak openly about idols, icons, and musical role models, Navjot’s creative world is built differently. He does not believe his music comes from imitation or inherited influence. He listens inward.
He has never considered himself shaped by ideals in the traditional sense. In fact, he admits that he does not particularly enjoy listening to songs, especially his own. His decisions as a songwriter and singer come from instinct. He writes what feels right. He trusts what his inner voice tells him. He positions his music according to what he honestly believes in, not what trends demand.
That creative independence gives his work a distinct emotional sincerity. His songs do not feel calculated. They feel alive.
The Long Years of Invisible Struggle
Every artist carries a chapter of struggle, and Navjot’s was long, demanding, and deeply formative. One of the biggest challenges he faced was building continuity as the best new indian singer songwriter in an era where musical collaboration is increasingly fluid.
For emerging singers, especially those trying to build with a band, consistency can be difficult. Instrumentalists today have more opportunities than ever to freelance and perform with multiple artists. While that growth is positive and well deserved, it can make things harder for singers who are still trying to establish a steady team and sound around their work.
For Navjot, one of the most difficult phases came during 2021 and 2022, when he was doing club shows almost every day. It was a period of relentless performance, but not always personal fulfillment. He was largely singing covers because clubs were not open to original songs that audiences did not yet know.
For a new Indian singer and songwriter, that can be a painful compromise. To perform constantly and still not have the freedom to share your own voice requires not just resilience, but restraint.
“Khat” and the Grace of Staying Unchanged
After 14 years of effort, Navjot’s new love song Khat became a defining milestone. Professionally, he acknowledges that the song changed how society viewed him as a musician. It strengthened his place in the public eye and altered his standing in meaningful ways.
Yet personally, he remains unchanged.
That is perhaps the most striking part of his story. Navjot says his routine is still the same. His calm is still the same. His writing process is still the same. He does not want success or failure to interfere with the purity of his art. For him, emotional detachment from public outcomes is essential because the moment an artist becomes too attached to validation, the writing begins to shift.
His joy comes not from numbers, but from the attempt. If he has tried to improve his skill today, if he has written his heart out more honestly than before, then he is at peace.
Growth, Not Glory, Remains the Real Goal
Even now, Navjot is not consumed by labels such as singles artist, performer, or digital success story. His focus remains deeply personal. He wants to sing better. He wants to play instruments better. He wants to understand himself more. And he wants to become a kinder person.
That is what makes Navjot Ahuja’s journey so moving. It is not simply the story of a musician finding recognition. It is the story of an artist who continues to grow inward, even as the world begins to look outward at him. In an age obsessed with applause, Navjot reminds us that the most meaningful success often begins in silence, honesty, and the courage to remain true to oneself.
