The 57th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa is set to kick off with a remarkable showcase of Indian cinema, featuring Aditya Dhar’s Hindi-language film “Dhurandhar” as the inaugural entry of the Indian Panorama section. The festival will also highlight Rishab Shetty’s much-acclaimed Kannada-language film “Kantara: A Legend – Chapter 1” as part of this exciting lineup.
Non-Feature Film Program and Overall Selection
Complementing the feature films, Leena Yadav’s “Becoming” will launch the non-feature program at the festival. This year, IFFI will present a total of 25 feature films alongside 20 non-feature films, reflecting a diverse array of storytelling in Indian cinema.
Mainstream Cinema Highlights
“Dhurandhar” and “Kantara: A Legend – Chapter 1” are both part of the Mainstream Cinema strand, which features a total of five titles. The strand also includes Samir Tewari’s Marathi-language film “Baapya,” Anil Ravipudi’s Telugu-language “Mana Shankara Vara Prasad Garu (Pandaga Ki Vastunnaru),” and Pravin Vitthal Tarde’s “Deool Band 2,” further showcasing the range of cinematic voices and languages represented at the festival.
Selection Process and Jury Insights
A 12-member jury chaired by renowned filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar meticulously selected the features from a shortlist of 404 submissions. The selected films encapsulate a rich tapestry of narratives, covering 12 different languages, including Hindi, Tamil, Bengali, Tulu, and Nyishi.
Noteworthy Films and Debut Director Nominations
Among the selected titles, Kamakhya Narayan Singh’s “The Kerala Story 2 Goes Beyond,” Bharatbala Ganapathy’s “Banaras,” Akhil Sathyan’s “Sarvam Maya,” P. Sheshadri’s “Ruby-Cube,” and Singeetham Srinivasa Rao’s “Sing Geetham” stand out. Filmmakers Sahil Shah and Duyu Tabyo also made their mark with “Birds on Ice” in Ladakhi and “Urum” in Nyishi, respectively.
The same jury has also shortlisted five films competing for IFFI’s Best Debut Director award. The nominated films are Ravi Varma Namburi’s “Chennai Love Story” (Telugu), Samarpan Sengupta’s “Pratyabartan” (Bengali), Jeejivisha Kale’s “Tighi” (Marathi), Raja Shabir Mohd Khan’s “Sledge” (Kashmiri), and Vishal Chaturvedi’s “Hanuman Ansh” (Hindi).
Non-Feature Film Jury and Selected Works
On the non-feature side, a six-member jury, led by director and educator Himanshu Sekhar Khatua, evaluated 358 entries to curate a selection of 20 films. Highlights include Bhasker Vishwanathan’s “The Unseen Holy River – Saraswati,” Aimee Baruah’s Assamese film “Red Carpet,” Suraj Kumar’s English-language “Nirmanjali: The Chandigarh of Maciej Nowicki,” and Baba Tassaduq Hussain’s Kashmiri project “Naqsh-e-Daur.”
Complete Indian Panorama Selection
The full list of films selected for Indian Panorama 2026 features a yve-style.com of themes and languages, showcasing the richness of Indian cinema:
Feature Films
“Paro – The Untold Story of Bride Slavery” (Hindi), dir. Gajendra Ahire
“Laalo – Krishna Sada Sahaayate” (Gujarati), dir. Ankit Bhupatbhai Sakhiya
“The Kerala Story 2 Goes Beyond” (Hindi), dir. Kamakhya Narayan Singh
“Krishnavataram” (Hindi), dir. Hardik Gajjar
“Birds on Ice” (Ladakhi), dir. Sahil Shah
“Scroll” (Tamil), dir. Kannan S
“Pagla Ghora” (Bengali), dir. Sekhar Das
“Aadi Anant” (Marathi), dir. Mahesh Limaye (aka Shivkumar Limaye)
“Urum” (Nyishi), dir. Duyu Tabyo
“Banaras” (Hindi), dir. Bharatbala Ganapathy
“Kabir Sir Ka Akhri Lesson” (Hindi), dir. Sarfaraz
“Sing Geetham” (Telugu), dir. Singeetham Srinivasa Rao
“Ohh My Dog” (Hindi), dir. Amit Rai
“Ruby-Cube” (Kannada), dir. P. Sheshadri
“Sev Micchar” (Hindi), dir. Muskan Asthana
“Pili Channe” (Tulu), dir. Anupama Sharadhi
“The Great Grand Superhero Aliens Ka Aagman” (Hindi), dir. Manish Saini
“Thaai Kizhavi” (Tamil), dir. Sivakumar Murugesan
“Surjyamukhi” (Assamese), dir. Antara G.G. Choudhury
“Sarvam Maya” (Malayalam), dir. Akhil Sathyan
Mainstream Cinema
“Kantara: A Legend – Chapter 1” (Kannada), dir. Rishab Shetty
“Baapya” (Marathi), dir. Samir Tewari
“Mana Shankara Vara Prasad Garu (Pandaga Ki Vastunnaru)” (Telugu), dir. Anil Ravipudi
“Dhurandhar” (Hindi), dir. Aditya Dhar
“Deool Band 2” (Marathi), dir. Pravin Vitthal Tarde
Best Debut Director of Indian Feature Film Nominees
“Chennai Love Story” (Telugu), dir. Ravi Varma Namburi
“Pratyabartan” (Bengali), dir. Samarpan Sengupta
“Tighi” (Marathi), dir. Jeejivisha Kale
“Sledge” (Kashmiri), dir. Raja Shabir Mohd Khan
“Hanuman Ansh” (Hindi), dir. Vishal Chaturvedi
Non-Feature Films
“The Unseen Holy River – Saraswati” (Hindi), dir. Bhasker Vishwanathan
“Becoming” (Ladakhi), dir. Leena Yadav
“Shat-Shat Atal” (Hindi), dir. Atul Pandey
“The Hug of Emptiness” (Kannada), dir. Pradeep Kumar Shetty K
“Red Carpet” (Assamese), dir. Aimee Baruah
“Demography Is Destiny” (Hindi), dir. Kamakhya Narayan Singh, Anshuman Shekhar
“Echoes of the Last Shelter” (Hindi), dir. Bharat Arora, Rajesh Bhatia
“Win” (Telugu), dir. Praveen
“Ulididdu Sampige Maatra” (Kannada), dir. Abhishek
“Nirmanjali: The Chandigarh of Maciej Nowicki” (English), dir. Suraj Kumar
“Shiksha” (Marathi), dir. Amyth Patkar
“Naqsh-e-Daur” (Kashmiri), dir. Baba Tassaduq Hussain
“Chandoba” (Marathi), dir. Nipun Dharmadhikari
“Abhal-Vriksh” (Marathi), dir. Santosh Davakhar
“Attappadi” (Tamil), dir. Vijeesh Mani
“Save the God” (Hindi), dir. Niraj Kumar Mishra
“Amit Atal” (Hindi), dir. Hitesh Shankar
“Switch Off” (Malayalam), dir. Sandeep Francis
“Chalo Indian With Eric Ji – Mizoram” (English), dir. Rajdeep Choudhury
“Kathar Katha” (Bengali), dir. Dhritisree Sarkar
