Hindi
IFFI 2016: India, S. Korea keen on co-productions
NEW DELHI: Minister for Information and Broadcasting (MIB) M Venkaiah Naidu has said the government is keen to work and cooperate with South Korea in the domain of film production in a way that could benefit both countries.
Speaking at a meeting with the Korean delegation yesterday in Panaji, the Minister said the government gave great importance to the 2014 agreement between the two countries on co-production and exchange of ideas and expressed satisfaction at Korea being the main partner in the cultural sphere and the focus country at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI).
MIB Secretary Ajay Mittal said the Film Facilitation Office was set up by the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) to address issues on film production and facilitating mutual cooperation.
Korean ambassador to India Cho Hyun shared his ideas and themes for future film making. The delegation also expressed its happiness of the remake of the South Korean movie `Montage’. Hyun also remembered the role India played on the peace keeping operations in the Korean War.
A large Korean delegation is attending the IFFI this year and veteran Korean filmmaker Im Kwon Taek had been awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the inauguration of the festival.
A total number of 18 films are being screened from South Korea and the opening film was `Tunnel’ whose director Kim Seong-hun said later at a press meet that it was his first visit to India and he was thrilled to meet a new audience at this venue. The other directors and producers present at the event talked about their films’ genres and storylines.
The Korean Film Council (KOFIC) representative, also present at the conference, talked about the screening of 18 films at the fest and further strengthening the foundation of Indo-Korean relationship through this step. He added that Korea produces three films per year under co-production and has a budget of $ 300,000.
Director Lee Joon-ik of ‘Dongju: The Portrait of a Poet’ spoke about the removal of censorship in South Korea and its impact on the Korean film industry. He said that in the 70s, Hollywood had 80 per cent share in the Korean market. But with the complete removal of censorship, now the Korean cinema has gained 30 per cent of the market share, reducing Hollywood share by up to 50 per cent.
Korean Film has come of age in terms of technology and production said Korean filmmakers. The directors believe that if the Indian audience enjoy Hollywood cinema, they will surely like Korean cinema as well, because just like Hollywood, Korean cinema is also technology-driven and, at times, is way ahead of Hollywood.
The film ‘Tunnel’ tears down the conventional disaster movie genre. Through a disaster, which seems lifted from ordinary reality, the film reminds us all of the forgotten dignity of human life. The director shifts smoothly between emotional extremes to create a distinctive and realistic disaster movie that brings something new to the genre.
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.
