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Siraj Syed is the India Correspondent for FilmFestivals.com and a member of FIPRESCI, the International Federation of Film Critics. He is a Film Festival Correspondent since 1976, Film-critic since 1969 and a Feature-writer since 1970. He is also an acting and dialogue coach. @SirajHSyed
Third Eye, 2022, 19, 01: Asian Film Festival resurfaces after Covid break
The 19th edition of the Third Eye Asian Film Festival, organised by the Asian Film Foundation, will begin from December 12, 2022. Started in 2002, under the stewardship of Mr. Sudhir Nandgaonkar, the festival is a one-of-its-kind experience for film buffs from Mumbai. It allows them to watch parallel cinema from various Asian countries. Supported by Government of Maharashtra, the Festival has received special assistance...
RIFF 09, 2023, 01: First list unveiled
The 9th edition of the Rajasthan International Film Festival (RIFF), organised by RIFF Film Club and accredited by the Federation of Film Societies of India (North Region), will be held from the 1st to the 5th of February 2023, at INOX, Crystal Palm, C-Scheme, Jaipur, Rajasthan, with the theme Sports in Cinema.
The first list of the 9th Rajasthan International Film Festival 2023 was released today, where a total of 22 films have been officially...
Vijayanand, Review: All Vijay, No Anand
You might be pardoned for mistaking the film to be a bio-pic on the genius Hindi film director, Vijay Anand (Guide, Jewel Thief, Johnny Mera Naam). But that can only arise out of ignorance, for if you have read anything about the film or seen a poster or video, you will be aware that this is nothing like a Vijay Anand bio-pic. It is, in fact, a docu-drama about a family in Karnataka that started with the printing industry and the next generation went in...
Life is Good, Review: Is it?
A sweeping statement, to be sure. Life has its ups and down and is good to some people while not so good to others. To the central character in Life is Good, Rameshwar, played by Jackie Shroff, life has been rather bad, on the whole. So, bad, in fact, that he contemplates committing suicide at least twice. Yes, there is a long period in between when he finds love in an unlikely quarter, but like the tagline of LG (Lucky Goldstar) Electronics, ‘Life’s G...
Vadh, Review: Some people deserve to be killed
Taking the law into your own hands and getting away with crimes is becoming a recurring thread in Indian cinema. On the heels of one such film, Drishyam 2, comes another murder story, where the audiences’ sympathy lies with the protagonist, who, a law-abiding citizen otherwise, is pushed beyond his limits of tolerance, and ends up killing a man and disposing off his body. Whereas some schools of thought may ascribe to the theory that crime ...
IFFI 53, 2022, 13: Master Class on Gender and Work in Hindi Cinema
A Masterclass on Gender Participation in Hindi Cinema was held at the 53rd International Film Festival of India, in association with Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), in Panaji, Goa wherein a presentation on Breaking the Screen Ceiling: Gender and Work in Hindi Cinema was held. Key insights from a quantitative research study on gender and work, both on and off screen, in Hindi cinema, were presented during the mas...
IFFI 53, 2022, 12: How to Blow-Up a Pipeline addresses the explosive issue of climate change
One film that aroused the curiosity of the delegates and media for sure was How to Blow-Up a Pipeline. But its director acknowledged that there is no magic bullet or immediate remedy to tackle climate change. Only the right kind of conversations and interventions are the key. “Through How to Blow Up a Pipeline, we are trying to provoke the right conversation on this burning issue,” s...
IFFI 53, 2022, 11: Storyline, tight screenplay, performances are important
Kurangu Pedal captures a child's interest in learning how to ride a bicycle, while his father doesn’t even know to ride a cycle. “The story kept on lingering in my mind as cycle was the one of the most intriguing things in my childhood. Learning to ride a cycle gives one confidence, and that thought pushed me to make a movie”, said Kamalakannan S., director and co-screenplay writer of th...
IFFI 53, 2022, 10: The land of jewels calls
Besides Bihar, the Manipur state pavilion at IFFI 53, called Manipur Unexplored, is attracting film-makers, actors, directors and producers, to consider making films in the state. Many film-makers are visiting the state pavilion for queries regarding the facilities that the picturesque state would offer them, should they decide to shoot in the remote north-eastern state of India.
This year IIFI also celebrates the golden jubilee of Manipuri cinem...
IFFI 53, 2022, 09: Bihar as a shooting destination
The Bihar pavilion at the 53rd IFFI has called out to budding film-makers to explore the historical, archaeological, cultural and natural heritage of the land of Buddha and Mahaveer.
This year, at IFFI, as an initiative, several state governments had installed their pavilions at the Film Bazaar, to promote film-making industry in the states. States such as Manipur, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Maharashtra, Tamil Na...
IFFI 53, 2022, 08: The Young Arsonists is inspired by real people
Amongst the sparse landscape of an isolated farming community in Canada, four adolescent girls’ band together to escape their desolate lives. By reclaiming an abandoned farm-house as their own, they form an intense and obsessive bond that leads them to a dark place where their innermost fears and desires destroy their only safe place. Showcased in the Cinema of the Wold section of the 53rd International Film Festi...
IFFI 53, 2022, 07: Ratings of films seen or partly seen
Major-India-Hindi-Director Sashi Kiran Tikka: ** ½
Fatima-India-Hindi-Sourabh Kanti Dutta: ***
Hatibondhu-India-English-Kripal Kalita: ** ½
Anhonee-India-Hindi (1973)-Ravi Tandan: ** ½
Parinda-India-Hindi (1989)-Vidhu Vinod Chopra: ***
Alma and Oskar-Austria-German-Dieter Berner: ***
Perfect Number-Poland-Polish-Krsyztof Zanussi: **
Cold as Marble-Azerbaijan+France-A...
Binaca GeetMala: 70 years ago, this day
You wouldn’t blame me, would you, if I got really nostalgic, even mushy? If you were Ameen Sayani’s only disciple, recently promoted to Chief Copywriter too, what would be your feelings when you realised that the programme you grew-up on, the programme that is just 14 months younger than you, first went on air on the 3rd of December 1952, exactly 70 years ago? And the owner of the voice that thrilled India and Asia, including some parts of A...
IFFI 53, 2022, 06: Any nation, imagination, animation
It is generally believed that this genre is largely loved by children, for its vibrant colorus, and simple themes, or messages they can take to heart. But, at the same time, many of the greatest animation films of all time are aimed at more mature audiences. The 53rd edition of International Film Festival of India (IFFI) has in store, a great mix of various genres of this film-art. This year, IFFI will showcase five such films from di...
IFFI 53, 2022, 05: Lata Mangeshkar, one of a kind
The 53rd edition of the International Film Festival of India is paying homage to Melody Queen Lata Mangeshkar, who passed away in Mumbai in February this year, aged 92. While the veteran singer’s soulful songs are one too many, thousands, to be sure, each excelling her own huge contribution to Indian cinema and culture, the festival has chosen Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s 1973 musical drama film Abhimaan, to pay tribute to the superlativ...
She Said, Review: One Movie Magnate, 82 Female Victims
An Agatha Christie detective movie, released in 1961 was titled Murder She Said. In 2022, it is not murder she said, but another heinous crime, and the ‘she’ is not one woman but 82 victims of a movie bigwig in Hollywood (actually Indiewood). Unlike the fiction film of yore, this film is based on solid fact, as chronicled by the best-seller book, She Said, and borne out by the Me Too movement worldwide, with minimum fictionali...
IFFI 53, 2022, 04: Makes history with first feature film to have only indigenous cast
She rises from the ashes, to fearlessly proclaim the exclusive right she has over her body and the decisions involving it. Dhabari Quruvi is an elevating story of girls belonging to a tribal community in Kerala, and is the first film in the history of Indian cinema to star only people from indigenous communities. Directed by National Award-winning film-maker Priyanandan, the film also has the distin...
IFFI 53, 2022, 03: Mexican salsa on the menu
Mexico is a country known for its vibrant culture and colourful history. Recently, another addition to the country’s ever growing cultural heritage is its cinema. Legends such as Alejandro González Iñárritu, Guillermo del Toro, Alfonso Cuarón and Carlos Reygadas, have produced world class films and won international critical acclaim. The 53rd IFFI also celebrates Mexico and its cinema with the screening of 7 M...
IFFI Goa 53, 2022, 2: Austrian film Alma and Oskar to open fest
Austrian film Alma and Oskar will be the Opening film at the 53rd International Film Festival of India (IFFI), to be held in Panaji, Goa, from November 20 to November 28. The passionate and tumultuous relationship between the Viennese society Grand Dame Alma Mahler (1879-1964) and Austrian artist Oskar Kokoschka (1886-1980) is the subject of this biopic. Directed by Dieter Berner, the film has a runtime of 110 minutes.
Oskar Kok...
IFFI 53, 2022, 01: FTII, NFDC and ESG to offer free courses to persons with disabilities
Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune, under its Centre for Open Learning (CFOL) initiative, National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) and Entertainment Society of Goa (ESG) have announced two free courses for persons with disabilities as part of the 53rd edition of International Film Festival of India, scheduled to be held from November 20 to 28, in Panaji, Goa. A basic course in smartph...
Global Desi Records launched with Chhori, featuring Tanmay Ssingh and Nikki Tamboli
Global Desi Records launched their label with a track called Chhori (meaning Girl, in dialect), featuring Nikki Tamboli of Bigg Boss fame, who is a fashion icon and a supremely talented actress, and popular actor Tanmay Ssingh, marking their first on-screen collaboration.
The song is written and composed by Danish Sabri, who has written the music and lyrics for several Salman Khan and Varun Dhawan movies. It ...
Uunchai, Review: Plateau
Rajshri Productions have a tradition of making family oriented subjects and shaping them into very lengthy films. By comparison, Uunchai, at 169 minutes, is a short film. Even at that length, it fails to reach the heights that the cast and the director promise. With no less an actor than Amitabh Bachchan himself heading the cast, Uunchai (height; spelt unconventionally, this was instead of the phonetic, Oonchai) was expected to reach some dizzy heights, with a s...
Armaan Malik and Vedika Pinto croon and swoon to Rochak Kohli’s tune for T-Series’ ‘Bas Tujhse Pyaar Ho’
Multi-platinum singer Armaan Malik has released yet another collaboration with Bhushan Kumar of T Series, titled ‘Bas Tujhse Pyaar Ho’. The ‘prince of sonorous romance’ teams up with composer Rochak Kohli for the first time, to bring the lyrics, penned by Kumaar, to life. The soft and soulful love ballad features Malik and Vedika Pinto in th...
Book Review, Rebuild, by Ramya Ramamurthy, published by Hachette: Keep your brand crisis playbook handy
What is your brand? Colas, chocolate, multi-national brands, private taxis, airlines, cricket, computers, chit fund, internet shopping site, automobiles, mobile phones, pharmaceuticals, photographic film and cameras, brand store, bookstore, social network, alcohol, machine tools and watches? Whatever your brand, you will never know when a crisis might hit you, as it did brands in all the ab...
Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris, Review: Ada-girl Harris, the Dior dress is your dress
If Mr. Deeds could go to Town and Mr. Smith could go to Washington, what prevents Mrs. Harris from going to Paris? Mr. Deeds Goes to Town was made in 1936, and was a comedy romance-drama, while Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) was a political comedy. Both were American films, directed by the legendary Frank Capra. Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris (2022, but set in 1957), which has a cute inbuilt rhyme in its title, i...
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About Siraj Syed
 Syed Siraj
(Siraj Associates)
Siraj Syed is a film-critic since 1970 and a Former President of the Freelance Film Journalists' Combine of India.
He is the India Correspondent of FilmFestivals.com and a member of FIPRESCI, the international Federation of Film Critics, Munich, Germany
Siraj Syed has contributed over 1,015 articles on cinema, international film festivals, conventions, exhibitions, etc., most recently, at IFFI (Goa), MIFF (Mumbai), MFF/MAMI (Mumbai) and CommunicAsia (Singapore). He often edits film festival daily bulletins.
He is also an actor and a dubbing artiste. Further, he has been teaching media, acting and dubbing at over 30 institutes in India and Singapore, since 1984.
Bandra West, Mumbai India View my profileSend me a message
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