PIFF gets State Sponsorship

The organisers of the 7th Pune International Film Festival should go home singing now. The state government, which was unable to curb rising numbers of farmer's suicides has lend a helping hand to the organisers.Even though the powers that be do not know how the common public will watch movies without electricity, it has went ahead with the promise of sponsoring the annual event.

 

Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan announced on Thursday that from next year onwards the state government will be officially connected with the Pune International Film Festival. From now on, PIFF 2010 will be a joint venture of the Maharashtra Government and the Organising Commiittee. Speaking as the chief guest at the concluding ceremony of PIFF, said he wants to see Maharashtra as number one not only in production of films but also in industry, business and other areas. he did not forget to praise Suresh Kalmadi, Member of Parliament from Pune for grand manner of his organization.
 

The festival saw usual awardees in the usual categories. With this offer of sponsorships, one is tempted to expected that the city will boast more and more cinemas from all over the world. But the mind is more practical and  knows that it will hardly come by.

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Hollywood faded out

Where would the English movie viewers go to watch their favorite and anticipated films? That is the question looming large in the minds of those who watch Hollywood stuff frequently. The regular theatres for the English movies are fast turning into endangered species. They are shrinking to exhibit the stuff in the fear of loosing the profit in the favor of dubbed movies. Dubbed movies also are fast encroaching on the space for the original Hollywood stuff.

It was in the year 1994. First ‘Jurassic Park’ had made waves in the pre-publicity era and its release was widely expected. When the movie actually hit the theatres, it came in two separate versions i.e. English as well as Hindi. That heralded a trend whereby more and more foreign films were dubbed in Hindi and few other regional languages. That business strategy paid off very well paving the way for major and minor Hollywood studios to set up their offices here itself.

What happened to English films later took place with films in other languages too. Chinese, Japanese, French and so many other films started making rounds. Not only through theatres, but through pirated CDs and DVDs too. Increasingly people started to see English films in their language instead of the original ones. The things have come to such a pass that ‘Spiderman 3’ last year was dubbed in Bhojpuri, a first for any Hollywood or for that matter, any non-Bhojpuri. The trend continued unabated and ‘A Night in Museum’ was released in India in only Hindi. However, the film was available in English on DVD circuit.

Rising localization and increasing competition has made original Hollywood films now as rare as old Hindi flicks. Either you see Hindi dubbed versions or else you see nothing. Even some multiplexes are going for the dubbed versions. In short, the day is not far away, when one will have to ask : English films, where are they?

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