IFFI 2017 Handbook

Hari Viswanath is an Indian film director and producer. Inspired by real life incidents,
his feature film debut Radiopetti (Radio Set), became the first Tamil film to win an
Audience Award for Best Film in the Official Competition at the Busan International
Film Festival (2015) and 46th edition of IFFI-Indian Panorama. It also won the
2nd Best Film Award and a Special Jury Mention for Best Acting at the Chennai
International Film Festival 2015 including another award for Best Music at Imagine
India Film Festival (2016, Spain) and Best Film Award by Puducherry Govt. Ever
since he has been actively directing shorts, films and writing stories close to his
heart.
Hari Viswanath
Merlvin Mukhim is an actor, singer and noted member of the film fraternity in
Meghalaya. His work on Khasi and Bengali language films Ri–homeland of
uncertainty (Khasi), Sohra Bridge (Bengali) and Onaatah – of the earth (Khasi) has
been much appreciated and selected in three consecutive IFFI - Indian Panorama
editions. He was presented the Young Achievers Excellence Award in the field of
performing arts and playback singing (Regional) in 2007. He has earned accolades
for his work as an actor in two National award winning films from Meghalaya; he
bagged the Best Actor in a Negative Role award at the Film, North East Festival
Itanagar in 2016 and earned a nomination for Best Actor at the Prag Cine Awards.
A founding member of the Shillong Chamber Choir, he consistently engages with
film industry peers to promote Meghalaya and North East as a potential filming
destination.
Merlvin Mukhim
Nikkhil Advani is an Indian film producer, director and screenwriter. He is one of
the co-founders of Emmay Entertainment, a motion picture production company.
He assisted filmmaker Sudhir Mishra on Is Raat Ki Subah Nahin (1996), for which
he also co-wrote the screenplay. During Nikhil’s stint with Dharma Productions he
directed Kal Ho Naa Ho starring Shah Rukh Khan, Preity Zinta, Saif Ali Khan and
Jaya Bachchan. The film was one of the biggest hits of 2003 and won six Filmfare
awards besides firmly establishing him as a director. Nikhil has directed India’s first
stereoscopic 3D animation film, Delhi Safari, for which he also wrote the original
story. Emmay Entertainment recently produced Akshay Kumar and Nimrat Kaur film
based on the Gulf war crisis titled Airlift and Farhan Akhtar headlined edgy ensemble
film Lucknow Central.
Nikhil Advani
98 INDIAN CINEMA IFFI 2017