Veteran Hollywood actor and producer Michael Douglas was honored with the Satyajit Ray Lifetime Achievement Award at the grand closing ceremony of the 54th edition of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) on Tuesday.
The festival, held in the coastal state of Goa, a popular tourist spot for foreign travelers, showcased over 270 films from across the globe, with the Best Film Award going to the Iranian movie ‘Endless Borders’, directed by Abbas Amini.
Speaking to the press on the sidelines of the festival, Douglas praised Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his administration for investing in the film industry and converting it into a robust softpower tool.
“Under Minister [Anurag] Thakur as well as Prime Minister Modi, the last few years we have seen more money put into the production and financing of films,” Douglas said. “It has been a very successful time,” he observed.
The ‘Wall Street’ star said that the participation of 78 countries at this year’s IFFI reflects India’s growing influence as a cinema powerhouse. “[Indian films] are renowned and known around the world,” Douglas said, adding, “I think you are in very, very good hands.” Indian films are “traveling more and more” and streaming is playing a very “important part,” the celebrity noted.
The Indian film industry made significant strides in the global arena when ‘Natu Natu’ from the South Indian film ‘RRR’ won the Academy Award for Best Original Song at this year’s ceremony.
Weighing in on the film’s success in the West, Douglas said RRR “deserves everything it can get.” “It was spectacular, I mean bravo [it] won the Oscar for the music but it was stunning,” the actor was quoted as saying by The Hindu. “It deserves everything it gets and I think that it’s a wonderful time for the film industry here to get the confidence.”
Catherine Zeta-Jones, Douglas’ wife, who is also in Goa for the festival, attested that she is a “big fan” of Indian cinema. She cited ‘The Lunchbox’, an Indian film starring the late actor Irrfan Khan, as one of her favorites in comments to the ANI news agency. Jones also revealed that her children grew up watching Indian actor Shah Rukh Khan’s 2007 film ‘Om Shanti Om’ “on a loop.”
The IFFI is held jointly by the National Film Development Corporation of India under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the government of the state of Goa. In the runup to the festival, India’s Information and Broadcasting Minister said that the Indian film market “is growing every year with an average annual growth of 20% in the last three years.” Thakur, in his statement, noted that India’s media and entertainment industry is currently the fifth largest in the world.
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