Lone Konkani entry at IFFI 2006 to be premiered on Nov 28

Panaji, Nov 24 (UNI) ''Antarnad'', the lone Konkani entry into the 37th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) will be premiered at the Kala Academy on November 28.

''Antarnad' is a bilingual film produced and directed by Rajendra Talak whose 2004 movie ''Alisha'' a romantic story with the backdrop being the thriving mining industry in Goa and the ill-effects on the tiny state's environs was the winner of the National Award.

Talking to UNI here, Talak said the Marathi version will be called ''Savli'' (shadow) and will be released in Pune on December 15. Shivendu Agarwal is the producer of the Marathi version.

He said his new movie has a musical backdrop and the conflict of mother and daughter who are in the same classical singing profession. Actors Reema and Amruta Subhash play the characters of mother and daughter respectively. Ashok Patki is the music composer of the film.

''The film portrays conflict between the older and younger generation. Young people have an ego and an aim to achieve success and carve a niche for themselves easily without any reverence for their elders from whom they learn. The story shows how such easy success is shortlived,'' he added.

He said only Amruta Subhash and male protagonist Swapnil Bandodkar dubbed themselves in Konkani. Reema delivered her dialogues in Konkani but she did not dub because of the need to get the Konkani pronunciation right.

Mr Talak said he completed the shooting of the film in one month time. The post production work took another two months. The Konkani version of the movie will be releasing in Goa on December 4.

The story is by Talak himself. The screenplay and dialogues for the film are written by Sridhar Kamat while Pratima Kulkarni have written the same in Marathi.

Mr Talak was of the view that Konkani cinema will take time to stabilise and get popular among the audiences. The Bollywood impact is too great in Goa just like in Mumbai because of which the regional cinema takes a backseat. But, things are slowly improving.

With the response to his earlier film ''Alisha'' which also won a National Award, many filmmakers are encouraged and have submitted their scripts to the government for securing financial assistance.

He said the state government's scheme provides for giving filmmakers assistance of Rs 20 lakh, which includes raw stock, laboratory charges, even if he is a debutant. The last installment will be paid after the producer avails censorship certificate.

UNI NAZ PKS ND2152