Film Production
Jagran Film Festival returns to Delhi with 12th edition celebrating cinema
Mumbai: The 12th edition of the Jagran Film Festival (JFF), the world’s largest travelling film festival, is set to begin in Delhi from 5-8 December at Siri Fort Auditorium. Organised by the Jagran Prakashan Group and inaugurated by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India, this year’s festival promises an unparalleled celebration of cinematic excellence, cultural diversity, and storytelling.
JFF 2024 features an extraordinary lineup of 292 films selected from an impressive pool of 4,787 submissions. Representing 111 countries and 78 languages, the festival highlights its commitment to making good cinema for everyone. Over the next 100 days, JFF will travel through 18 cities, including Prayagraj, Varanasi, Raipur, Ranchi, and Mumbai, ensuring that quality cinema reaches diverse audiences across India.
The Delhi chapter will host renowned personalities like Pankaj Kapur, Manoj Bajpayee, Bhumi Pednekar, Taapsee Pannu, Mukesh Chhabra, and Bhuvan Bam. Directors such as Anil Prakash Joshi and Onir will also attend. The festival will showcase 102 remarkable films, spanning shorts, documentaries, and OTT content from 29 countries. Highlights include Kiran Rao’s Oscar entry “Laapataa Ladies” and Shashi Chandrakant Khandare’s Marathi film “Gypsy”.
The festival will host 17 premieres, including five world premieres, seven Asia premieres, and five Indian premieres. Classics like Shyam Benegal’s Manthan will feature alongside panel discussions and workshops. Kapur will be honoured with a retrospective, and Bajpayee will discuss his journey in a special session. Aspiring actors can attend Mukesh Chhabra’s session on breaking into cinema, while Rahul Rawail and Sudhir Mishra will lead thought-provoking discussions on modern filmmaking.
Jagran Prakashan Ltd, SVP, Basant Rathore emphasised JFF’s mission: “The Jagran Film Festival has become a cherished platform for celebrating the transformative power of cinema. This season, we are thrilled to showcase 102 films across 34 languages and 29 countries, ensuring quality cinema reaches Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. JFF remains committed to fostering meaningful conversations about the art of storytelling.”
Film Production
Priyanka Kaur Dhillon joins SVF Entertainment as lead for music distribution
A seasoned content dealmaker with 16 years in digital and satellite media joins the Bengali entertainment powerhouse as it pushes into the pan-India music market
Mumbai: Priyanka Kaur Dhillon has made her move. The content acquisitions and commercials veteran, most recently commercial manager at Sony Pictures Networks India, has joined SVF Entertainment as lead for music distribution, stepping into one of the more interesting briefs in regional entertainment right now.
SVF is no ordinary regional label. Over 30 years it has built a formidable legacy in Bengali cinema and music, driven by culturally resonant storytelling and a catalogue that consistently punches above its weight. Its recent success with Chiraiya underlines the point. But the Kolkata-based powerhouse now has its sights firmly set beyond Bengal, most visibly through Legacy, a rap reality series produced in collaboration with hip-hop label Kalamkaar that signals a deliberate push into the pan-India music ecosystem.
Dhillon brings precisely the kind of muscle SVF needs for that expansion. At Sony Pictures Networks India, she led film acquisition and commercials and handled music licensing across the entire satellite network. Before that, she spent nearly 15 years at Hungama, rising to assistant general manager and leading strategic content licensing for the platform’s digital entertainment business, with a particular focus on international markets. Her label relationships span the full roster: Sony Music, Universal Music, Warner Music, Believe International, Tunecore, The Orchard and a clutch of smaller aggregators. She has negotiated and closed deals with Hollywood studios, Bollywood production houses and regional content players alike, building pricing models and deal structures off data analysis rather than instinct.
Announcing the appointment, Dhillon said she was “thrilled to begin this journey with an iconic Bengali music label and content powerhouse,” adding that SVF’s “constant drive to push boundaries” was what drew her to the role.
SVF has spent three decades proving that regional does not mean limited. With a sharp commercial operator now steering its music distribution, its bid to go national just got a good deal more serious.
