14 January,2011 08:08 AM IST | | Vivek Sabnis
It was a happy moment for the team of Baboo Band Baaja, who got the Sant Tukaram Award for best Marathi film from the state government. Rajesh Panjani made the film based on the life of bandwalas, a community from rural Maharashtra. The Maharashtra Government Prabhat International Award for best film went to Dooman River (South Korea and France).
"Our team is extremely happy and we will participate in the competition section next year," said Panjani. "This film is on the marginalised bandwalas, who are deliberately sidelined in weddings. However, no marriage ceremony is complete without their music. I dedicate this award to all those bandwalas in Maharashtra."
Radhika Murthi, an FTII graduate, won the Whistling Woods International Student Film Competition for her documentary Motorbike. "I will make a feature film in Marathi or may be in Hindi," she said.
A total of 14 international and seven Marathi films competed in the world cinema and Marathi film category.
On the concluding day of the 9th Pune International Film Festival (PIFF), which was presided over by Faujia Khan, minister of state for culture, the government felicitated the awardees. She did not make any commitment to increase the funds for PIFF next year, though. "We gave Rs 70 lakh this year; the proposal to increase the amount is still in the pipeline," she said.
About 50 films shown at the PIFF will be sent to the first Yashwantrao International Film Festival in Mumbai starting from January 21, said the minister.
