Pune: The first Sarhad J&K J&K International Film Festival (JAKIF) concluded here on Wednesday.
Addressing the function former Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said the festival has made an effort of spreading peace and equality, and should get government’s recognition next year. He felicitated the winners of the festival.
Shinde said, “Sanjay Nahar of Sarhad is always concerned about the well-being and progress of the country and its youth and this Film Festival is the result of his concern, These films are taking concrete efforts to spread peace and equality.”
Sant Singh Mokha, chief organiser of the 400th year of Prakash Parv of Guru Tegh Bahadur was the chief guest of the ceremony. Anand Agarwal, Editor – Aaj ka Anand, Ashok Kaul – Film Director, Director of this festival Mushtaq Ali Ahmed Khan, film producer Nilesh Navlakha, Rajeev Jalnapurkar – CEO, Ramoji Film, noted folk artist Sambhaji Bhagat, Sanjay Nahar – founder, Sarhad, Shailesh Pagaria, Dr Shailesh Devlekar, Shailesh Wadekar, and Adv. Chandrakant Ghanekar were the dignitaries on the dais.
Praising the commendable effort of Sarhad Shinde said, “Sarhad is working dedication for Kashmir, Punjab and the North-Eastern states for last four decades.
They have brought about a change in many families from these states with unmatched efforts.”
CEO of Ramoji Film City, Rajeev Jalnapurkar was felicitated with a lifetime achievement award for his expertise and support in hundreds of film productions. Jalnapurkar said, “I have had an attachment for Kashmir since my college days. I am willing to work with Sarhad to fully support filmmakers in Kashmir.”
Sanjay Nahar expressed his desire to work with Wahid Jeelani for establishing peace in the Kashmir valley. He said that he has some concrete plans that will be executed in near future.
“We have been making efforts for this film festival from 2019. Our only condition for accepting entries for this festival was the film should have a reference to Jammu Kashmir, and we are glad to receive 74 entries for this festiva,”said Mushtaq Ali Khan, Director of Film Festival.
Some more special awards were also given during this ceremony. Muhammad Salim Aarif, Ashok Kaul, Khwaja Saeed, Dr. Payal Sudarshan Lodha (Guide of the UPSC Aspirants of Jammu Kashmir), Mushtak Ali Ahmed Khan, Lubna Salim, Shahir Sambhaji Bhagat were felicitated in the ceremony.
Giving a platform to the budding artists of Jammu Kashmir and boosting their confidence was the sole purpose of this festival organised by Sarhad. A grand response from the audience was the cherry on the cake.
The festival concluded with a marvelous cultural program where Jaan Nisar Loan, Rani Hazarika, Shamima Akhtar, Jitendra Bhuruk, and Mohan Bhandari performed along with other prominent artists. With a grand response from the public, this festival concluded in a mesmerizing atmosphere.
Yuvraj Shah offered a vote of Thanks. Greater Kashmir is the media partner for this festival.