New Delhi:
The National Indian Film Festival of Australia (NIFFA), for the Australian viewers to be held from Thursday, February 13 to 2 March, 2025 in many cities of Australia, is the first program for the Australian audience.
It is a detailed festival of cinema, with the support of Indian Consulates in Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, along with a major participation with the Indian Cultural Relations and Special Broadcasting Services (SBS).
To add this, India’s National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) is going to the extra mile by supplying a curated section of films. This is another first between Australia and India.
The NIFFA Nomination Council has also placed the Australian Indian film professionals on the ship, including Achala Datar, the head -winning producer Deepti Sachdeva, film and art writer Neeru Saluja and actress and actress and emerging director Amruuta Apte.
This festival is even more special as it is set to honor the legacy of mythological Indian film director, screenwriter and documentary filmmaker Shyam Benegal.
National Award winner has left an indelible mark in Indian cinema with films sprout (1973), Nishant (1975), churn (1976) Role (1977), and Zubaida (2001), to make some names.
As Nifa now tries to perform cinema that moves cultures, boundaries and languages, and to perform Indian cinema in Australia, Shyam Benegal’s films are actually a celebration of the contribution of the Mavric filmmaker.
With the increasing trend of representing Indian cinema on a global stage, NIFA is set to pay a tribute to NIFA 2025 Shyam Benegal, who died on 23 December 2024.
There is a look at films here, which made it in NIFA 2025 in Shyam Benegal retrospective Films List:
1) Mammo (1994)
The film stars Farida Jalal, Surekha Sikri, Amit Phalke and Rajit Kapoor. Three films appeared in Shyam Benegal’s Muslim trilogy, while Mammo The first was, the other two were Saradari Begum (1996) and Zubaida (2001). The story is about Riyaz (Amit Phalke), who lives a poor lifestyle with a poor lifestyle, her grandmother, Fizi (Surekha Sikri), and her sister, Mamo (Farida Jalal) in Bombay, India.
Mammo clashed with Pinipat, one of many Muslims who went to Pakistan after partition, and hence Mammo and her husband are called Pakistani citizens. After the death of her husband, Mammo is thrown out of her house over property disputes. She then visits India to live with her widowed sister Fayuzi.
Nifa
As the film moves forward, Mammo’s struggles keep growing because she tries to expand her temporary visa. She finally bribes Inspector Apte to get a permanent visa, but when the inspector is transferred, the new officer scans his papers and declares him an illegal immigrant.
The film throws light on how political rivalry takes place on human argument as a Pakistani woman’s fight to meet her sister of a Pakistani woman, and her grandson becomes a major challenge. This highlights the relationship that develops between three central characters amid cultural differences.
2) Mujib: The Making of a Nation (2023)
This 2023 biography of Shyam Benegal is based on the life of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the first President of Bangladesh and father of the nation. The film starts from Pakistani jail with Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and a grand reception is received by leaders in power.
He played a big role in restoring Bengali sovereignty after more than two centuries. The film highlighted Sheikh Mujib’s contribution in making Bangladesh independent and highlighted his commitment to his family.
NFDC
The story of the film largely incorporates some major moments in the life of Sheikh Mujibur, against the turbulent background of a nation’s visit to freedom. This highlights their early wedding, war in 1971 to Bangladesh’s freedom from West Pakistan, and finally in a military coup in 1975.
3) Suraj’s Satwan Horse (1992)
The film is based on the novel Sun -horse It also received the award for the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi in 1933 and in 1933. Manek Mulla (Rajit Kapoor) is a storyteller who narrates a story to his three friends.
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This is the story of three women who have met Manek at different times in their lives. These three women are Rajeshwari Sachdev (middle class), Pallavi Joshi (intellectual and prosperous), and Neena Gupta (poor).
This three-part story of the middle class, intellectual and poor wife comes out in flashback. All three stories are a part of a single story, as it is imagined in the film from the point of view of various major characters.
4) The Making of the Mahatma (1996)
The biographical film also exposed life under the leadership of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi as Mahatma Gandhi, when he spent 21 years in South Africa. It follows a fight for the trajectory of racism and the rights of Asian laborers that Mahatma Gandhi fought before his fight for India’s independence.
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He was invited to South Africa in 1983 to settle a case for a prosperous Indian there. While he was expected to return in a few months, he instead got entangled in the freedom movement there which lasted for 21 years.
