Inaugurating the Jharkhand International Film Festival Awards (JIFFA) on Friday, State Art, Culture, Sports and Youth Affairs minister Amar Bauri said that the State was set to become a filmmaking hub, thanks to the film policy framed by the ruling BJP Government.
“Earlier, Jharkhand was only known for its mineral reserves, but after the introduction of the Jharkhand Film Policy, our State is also known for filmmaking,” said Bauri. He added that Jharkhand was one of the best contributors in the Goa Film Festival last year.
Among popular Bollywood and small screen actors felicitated at the ceremony on Friday, Hemant Pandey, Rajesh Jayesh and Pawan Sharma were the main attractions. Pandey, famous as Pandeyji from TV series ‘Office Office’, lauded the efforts put in to organize the film festival.
“New, innovative films will keep releasing and give us reasons to smile,” he said.
Renowned actor Rajesh Jais, who has acted in films like ‘Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi’ and Raazi, attended JIFFA for the second consecutive occasion.
“Such events boost the filmmaking tradition. It will help Jharkhand achieve the desired results in the field of filmmaking,” he said.
Actors and filmmakers from Israel, Afghanistan, France and Poland too graced the event with their presence on Friday. Besides actors and filmmakers, senior bureaucrats from foreign shores graced the event with their presence. Reuma Mantuzar, Cultural Attache at the Embassy of Israel and Sediqullah Sahar, Education Attache at the Embassy of Afghanistan attended the inaugural day of the festival and seemed impressed with the arrangements.
“Day one was successful. All the invitees, including the ones from foreign countries, attended the festival and appreciated it,” said Pankaj Soni, Vice President, JIFFA.
Besides Tana Bhagat Indoor Stadium, at least two other air-conditioned portable cinema halls screened films on Friday. ‘Phulmania’, a Nagpuri film shot in Ranchi, grabbed attention for its direction and storytelling.
Besides, a six-minute short film, Why So Serious gave a social message about the importance of happiness. Ironically, technical snags marred the otherwise grand inaugural day of JIFFA here on Friday. The proceedings had to be stalled once in the afternoon, forcing the actors and directors occupying the stage to take a break after a sudden power failure caused due to technical problems.
The organizers had automatic generators in place to fight power cuts. However, the unexpected power failure that lasted for about 10 minutes in the afternoon was caused due to glitches in the wiring, sources said.
“There was no power cut. We have generators in place to tackle that. The interruption was caused due to some technical snag,” said Pankaj Soni, Vice President, JIFFA.