Godavari: Nikhil Mahajan And Jitendra Joshi Talk About Their Big Wins At The International Film Festival Of India
Jitendra Joshi wins coveted Silver Peacock for Best Actor and Mahajan wins Special Jury Prize for direction
The 52nd edition of the
International Film Festival of India (IFFI) took place in Goa. The nine-day
film gala was organized in a hybrid format – virtual and physical – which went
on till 28th November 2021. The opening ceremony was attended by Bollywood stars
Salman Khan and Ranveer Singh. It also saw the presence of other popular faces
like Riteish Deshmukh, Genelia Deshmukh, Shraddha Kapoor, amongst others.
Around 75 film celebrities attended the festival. Touted to be India’s largest
festival, this year it honored Hollywood stalwart Martin Scorsese and
celebrated Hungarian filmmaker Istevan Szabo with the Satyajit Ray Lifetime
Achievement award.
Godavari is a 2021 Indian
Marathi-language drama film directed by Nikhil Mahajan and produced by Jitendra
Joshi, Mitali Joshi, Pavan Malu and Nikhil Mahajan under the banner of Blue
Drop Films. Starring Neena Kulkarni, Jitendra Joshi and Vikram Gokhale, the
film tells a story of a family living on the banks of river Godavari in Nashik.
It also had its world premiere at 2021 Vancouver International Film Festival on
4 October 2021. It then travelled to Wellington for its Asia Pacific premiere
at the New Zealand International Film Festival.
‘Godavari’ has won two silver
peacocks in the International Competition at the recently concluded 52nd IFFI,
Goa. One for the Best Actor - Jitendra Joshi is the only Marathi actor to have
won this honour. Special Jury Prize for directing went to Nikhil Mahajan. This
is also a first for Marathi Cinema.
When asked to Nikhil Mahajan on how would you describe the journey of 'Godavari' from its inception to the film bagging two coveted awards at the recently concluded IFFI?
He said “It is nothing short of a dream. Jitendra and I started Godavari with the pure intent of making a film in memory of our friend Mr. Nishikant Kamat. We worked with a very small budget and against a crazy production schedule in the middle of a pandemic to make this happen. So while we were just very content with having made the film we wanted to make, to win such prestigious awards in an international competition is tremendously humbling.”When asked to Jitendra Joshi on what are some of the small battles that the crew won along the course of the film's journey that allowed it to bag two awards at the prestigious film?
He said “I think the biggest battle are crew won is completing the film in 16 days with senior actors onset amidst the first wave of covid maintaining the health of cast and crew was crucial and we went through it without any infections. there was a small accident on the second day of shoot where are director of photography slipped and fractured his tail bone it became difficult after that to finish the shoot in time and then there was a struggle we faced everyday. Everyone went above and beyond their responsibilities to help finish the film in time. That everyone felt it was their film is Nikhil and nine greatest success as producers.”
How do
you intend to use the emotional and psychological boost of this win to push the
boundaries in your upcoming projects?
Nikhil Mahajan said, “It is always extremely
self assuring to win an award that is so important. It makes me believe in the
power of the stories I really want to tell. Additionally it is very confidence
inspiring for producers and studios. I plan to use it as motivation to keep
telling stories I truly believe in and not content which is driven by market
demands.
In a
hyper - connected world, how do you see the road ahead for Marathi cinema?
Actor Jitendra Joshi said, “Marathi cinema has
always been ahead of the curve in terms of storytelling and content. Thanks to
social media and the rise of OTTs the distribution challenges that arise
because of regional content are being beaten. I see Marathi cinema rising and
shining in years to come.”
Would
you like to share a few details about the upcoming projects that are a part of
your collaboration?
Jitendra Joshi said, “We are producing
Raavsaheb, which is Nikhil’s directorial next along with Nehha Pendse Bayas and
Akshay Bardapurkar. Also producing Vaibhav Khisti’s film and Night duty by
another of Nikhil’s assistant, Rohit Satpute.”
Nikhil Mahajan said, “We are starting work on my
bed directorial Raavsaaheb which is being produced by Nehha Pendse Bayas,
Akshay Bardapurkar, Jitendra and myself. Additionally we are also producing
Vaibhav Khisti’s next directorial ‘Thoda Tuza, Thoda Maza’. Both films are
going on floors soon and will be ready for an early 2023 release.”
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