While Sridevi, one of the Indian film industry’s most iconic leading ladies, inaugurated the Indian Panorama section of Asia’s biggest film festival, the International Film Festival of India, a special Press Conference was held today for the two Non-Feature and Feature Opening Films, Pushkar Puran and Pihu, attended by their respective directors Kamal Swaroop and Vinod Kapri and child artist, Myra Vishwakarma.
Piquing the curiosity of everyone in attendance was Pihu which revolves around a 2-year-old who fails to wake her unresponsive mother and takes to exploring the spacious apartment looking for food, while periodically getting distracted from her chores by nervous phone calls from her father trying to reach his wife. Keeping the viewers on the edge of their seats, the movie showed much promise, inciting gasps and laughter as the suspense gradually heightened in the plot.
Talking about the Film, director Vinod Kapri said, “Pihu is a special film not because its protagonist is a two-year-old child or that she is the only character in the film, but because the crew and the child’s family lived in the same apartment for a while to get her attuned to the film. It is a great opportunity to showcase my film at IFFI Goa 2017.”
The other Opening Film also garnered much intrigue as filmmaker Kamal Swaroop returned to cinema after three decades with Pushkar Puran, a film about lake city Pushkar in the Thar Desert of Rajasthan. The movie showcases how in the month of Karthik, the city turns into a mirage-like fair, with villagers, folk artists, musicians, cattle, camels, horses, ferris-wheels and merry-go-rounds.
Speaking before the screening of the Film, director Kamal Swaroop said, “Thank you to everybody – the Jury, the IFFI organizers and others. I have liked the Festival very much. I am lucky. This is my second Opening Film in the Indian Panorama.”
The 48th Edition of IFFI will take place from the 20th to 28th of November, 2017 in the beach state of Goa. IFFI is India’s biggest and Asia’s oldest film festival, making it one of the most prestigious in the world.
