Day 03 of Saudi Film Nights is at Delhi’s PVR Director’s Cut, a beautiful location to discuss,
dissect and review cinema and chief guest of the evening is national award filmmaker
Madhur Bhandarkar.  The local media is keen to ask him questions about his films but he
declines their queries and focuses on Saudi Nights. Bhandarkar says that collaborations
between different countries are beneficial to all and brings access to locations and actors from
different regions.
Post the screening I am in conversation with Sohyab Godus and he has more insights to offer
in the making of Fever Dream, the only problem is that he is slightly under the weather and
therefore not in his best form. A girl in the audience asks him if he has to do a film with an
Indian actor who would he choose and his eyes sparkle as he answers, ‘Salman Khan’.
 
Post the event Sohayb all of us are headed to the airport. Sohyab returns home and we arrive
in Hyderabad for the last leg of the festival. The venue is PVR RK Cineplex, our Saudi guest

is the director and cameraman of short film Mashima’s Life and guest of honour Kannada and
Telugu popular star Ragini Dwivedi. Ragini’s new film trailer has just been released and the
local media is excited to see their favourite star.
 
Post the screening, Saad Tahaitah director of Mashnia’s Life tells us that it was not easy
shooting the senior woman because initially she refused to remove her mask but slowly, as
she developed trust, she opened the floodgates of her heart and shared the dark secrets of her
life.

The Saudi Film Nights premiered at Mumbai’s prestigious NFDC and attended by many
aspiring Bollywood artistes and Saudi commissioners. A short film The Edge and a feature
Fever Dreams were screened followed by a conversation with producer and actor of Fever
Dreams Sohyab Godus and Rand Agosaibi, actress of the The Edge.

Jury member and filmmaker Farhad Samji is the chief guest of the evening and expresses that
the diversity in Indian and Saudi culture needs to be celebrated and this festival is the first
step in that direction.
Godus shared that the conflict was not so much with the character Abdul Samad he portrayed
because it was easy to identify with him but the real conflict was between the producer and
the actor and how to balance the choices without compromising on the quality. He said that
when it was time for him to face the camera he functioned from the heart and when he had to
make choices as a producer, he thought from his head.
 
Rand   Algosaibi said that a short film demands the same focus and energy as a feature
demands in fact the challenges are greater because one has to project the character in a
limited time and what nobody realizes is that many hours of shooting go into making just a
five-minute film.

Considering it is just a five -year-old industry they had an impressive list of 10 feature films My Driver and I, Scholarship, Valley Road, Slave, Fever Dream, Thuqoob, HWJN, Yesterday After Tomorrow, Fakhr Al Sowaidi and Villa 54. Out of these four films were shortlisted and finally only two made it to the finals, Fever Dream and Slave.
 
The short films included The Edge, Mera Mera Mera, The Menace from Above, Zabarjad,
Fishbowl, Mashnia’s Life, A Mosquito, The Old School, Detour, Yallah Yallah Beenah, Koora Street 105, Forgive Me, Saeed and Aseer Memory. Out of these again four were short listed, Mera Mera Mera, The Menace from Above, Yallah Yallah Beenah and Forgive Me and the two films that made it to the finals were The Edge and Mashina’s Life.
The jury that selected the finals included writer, singer, lyricist, actor, music composer, and film director Farhad Samji associated with superhits like Housefull 4, Bachchhan Paandey, and Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan. Director Siddharth P Malhotra is associated with sensitive films like We Are Family, Hichki and recently Maharaj.

The Saudi Film Commission is set to unfold in 5 different countries in 2025. The festival is dedicated to spotlight the blossoming of the Saudi film industry and present Saudi filmmakers’ captivating stories to a whole new audience. Starting with Morocco, Australia and China, Saudi Arabia’s next stop is India before marketing their talent to a global audience. The Indian event hosted by Dome Entertainment was designed as a four-day festival in different cities comprising a red carpet introducing the celebrities leading to the screenings and followed by a Q&A session with representatives of the film.

The event is aimed at fostering collaboration between the Indian and Saudi films to promote cultural exchange. By showcasing local talent and facilitating cross-cultural collaborations, the Commission aims to strengthen cultural ties between Saudi Arabia and key film markets around the world. I was privileged to head the jury of the Saudi Nights and travel with the team to three cities.

To be continued

FICCI Frames, India’s premier global media, and entertainment convention, is gearing up to
celebrate its 25th anniversary this year and Bollywood star Ayushmann Khurrana has been
announced as the brand ambassador for the occasion as the face of the media and
entertainment industry of India. The theme for this special edition this year is “RISE:
Redefining Innovation, Sustainability, and Excellence” which underscores the transformative
impact of FICCI FRAMES in shaping narratives, fostering creativity, and driving the
evolution of the Media & Entertainment industry.
 
The 25th edition of FICCI Frames promises to be a grand affair, with a renewed focus on
new-age technologies such as artificial intelligence, digital content creation, virtual reality,
and the metaverse, alongside traditional media and entertainment. I’m hoping FICCI will not
reduce Ayushman to a star representative and Ayushman will assert himself to make valuable
contributions to the FICCI format.

Today’s rising stars understand that show business is not merit but a package. The most
talented and the most successful stars are aware of the importance of marketing and how the
game is to be played. Anaira Gupta, one more aspiring rising star of Indian cinema, is making
sure that her day is constructively divided between workouts, dance classes and shootings.
 
She was last seen in Anveshi/ Telugu, Vithaikkaaran/ Tamil. Additionally, a dance
performance in Sarkar, where she shared the screen with superstar Thalapathy Vijay in the
chartbuster song Simtaangaran. Currently Anaira’s highly anticipated Telugu film is SMV
and the trade is buzzing of her powerful performance in the film.

Jairangam, a national-level theatre festival in Jaipur is making its way to Mumbai with two
plays for a weekend namely Waiting for Naseer and The Lesson. The aim of the group is to
travel to centres that reflect a strong cultural presence.  The idea is to not just perform but
also engage in a dialogue with the audience. So far there have been amazing reactions
to Waiting for Naseer, wherein two actors wait at the Prithvi Theatre Cafe to catch a show of
their favourite actor. The play is a celebration of theatre, acting, passion, and of life.
 
The Lesson, on the other hand a one-act play by Eugène Ionesco, performed in 1951
as La Leçon and published in 1953. In a seemingly lonely old professor’s house, a young
pupil comes for her ‘lesson’ as she wants a Doctorate in ‘all the possible streams.’ The
professor seems to be her best hope and his encouraging, respectful and demure demeanour,
make her feel all the more confident. But as the lesson progresses, the professor starts to
assert himself and the strong-willed pupil is transformed into a lamb. The play raises relevant
questions that we are still searching for answers for.