NEW DELHI - The Pravasi Film Festival 2010 ended here Wednesday with the screening of “Chehere” by Rohit Kaushik and a panel discussion on “NRI Films - The Road Ahead”. Panelists asked organisers to stipulate guidelines on what should be categorised as NRI cinema.
The session was attended by filmmaker Mira Nair, director Basu Chatterjee, Dhananjoy, the contributing editor of Pravasi Today, and film critic Aruna Vasudev.
Addressing the session, Chatterjee said the festival must “specify guidelines on the kind of films that would qualify as NRI cinema so that movies are not disqualified from the panel at the last moment”.
“I would like to know whether a movie which has been conceived in India and made abroad qualifies as an NRI film. Three movies have been removed from the panel because they could not fulfill the criteria of NRI cinema,” Chatterjee said.
He urged an action plan “to recommend to the organisers on what should constitute non-resident Indian cinema”.
Echoing Chatterjee’s plea, Vasudev said: “If a director is Palestinian, lives in France and gets funds for his movies from US and other countries of Europe, how would you describe the movie?” She was referring to filmmaker Rashid Masharawi.
Mira Nair, who operates in three continents - Africa (Uganda), India and North America - said she has an Indian passport and will never give it up.
“I used to be pretty sensitive about being called an NRI for a long time. But I think the feel of the movie should have the feel of the journey to the destination and there should be some kind of definition to clarify ideas vis-a-vis movies made by people living abroad,” Nair said.
Pravasi (non-resident Indian) films should have some homeland routes, “but the definition of what constitutes an NRI movie is still very fuzzy”, said the Washington-based contributing editor to Pravasi Today, Dhananjoy.
“Not many pravasi movies are made in India but for many overseas Indians, films are a passion and they make more crossover movies. In the area around Washington where I stay, nearly 100 movies are made every year of which 10-12 make it to the local television.
“What about the rest? They can look forward to be screened in India and gross revenues if the organisers of the festival and the Indian government lay down some points on NRI movies and provide a support system,” Dhananjoy said.
The festival screened 43 movies, both feature films and documentaries. There were six panel discussions on various aspects of NRI cinema.
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