Manoj Muntashir and Vipul Shah among non-official members of 54th IFFI Steering Committee

Manoj Muntashir, dialogue writer of Adipurush, and Vipul Amrutlal Shah, producer of The Kerala Story, are among the non-official members of the Steering Committee constituted by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry for the 54th International Film Festival of India (IFFI).

The Ministry informed the Managing Director of the National Film Development Corporation of the composition of the Steering Committee of the 54th IFFI via a letter dated June 12.

Adipurush was released across the country in multiple languages on June 16. Some of its dialogues attracted heavy criticism, following which Mr. Muntashir, through his Twitter handle, on Sunday said he and the film-makers had decided to amend the dialogues that had evoked controversy, which would be added to the movie.

The Kerala Story, which was released on May 5, sparked protests in different parts of the country.

Apart from the 13 official members in the IFFI Steering Committee, including Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur, among the non-official members are Prasoon Joshi, Prosenjit Chaterjee, Khushboo Sunder, Rahul Rawail, R. Balki, Shoojit Sarkar, Aimee Baruah, Vani Tripathi, Bobby Bedi, and Ravi Kottarakara.

The responsibilities of the Steering Committee include planning the overall organisation of IFFI and steering its activities; reviewing the progress of the IFFI on a regular basis; endorsing the country of focus for the IFFI; finalising the opening and closing film of IFFI 2023; contacting and inviting various international film celebrities; finalising the chief guest for opening and closing ceremonies; selecting international jury members; selecting the ‘Satyajit Ray Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Cinema’ awardee.