Karan Johar to hold a masterclass at Chandigarh's first ever international film festival

From Kuch Kuch Hota Hai to Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani and Love Storiyaan via Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani and Gehraiyaan, as modern love has evolved over the decades so has romance movies coming out of the kitty of Dharma Productions. When it comes to churning out love stories on the big screen, what is it that keeps the production house romantic at heart and keeps it going? Let the man at the helm spill the beans and the tricks of the trade.

Bollywood's favourite producer-director Karan Johar is going to take a masterclass at the finale session of Chandigarh's first ever international film festival, Cinevesture International Film Festival (CIFF). The 1 hour, 45 minutes session, titled 'Between Larger than Life Romance and Grassroots Love Storiyaan - the Dharma of Entertainment', will take place on March 31 at 11 am.

The masterclasses, panel discussions and film market of the first edition of the CIFF will be  held at The Grand Ballroom at Taj, Chandigarh from March 27-31.

The festival presents a captivating lineup of 20 masterclasses and panel discussions featuring renowned personalities such as Jaideep Ahlawat, Tahira Kashyap, Richa Chadha, Ali Fazal, Roshan Mathew, Abhay Deol, Sudhir Mishra, Kohrra star Suvinder Vicky, Boman Irani, Rasika Dugal, Rajshri Deshpande, Tabbar director Ajitpal Singh, Kesri director Anurag Singh, Mr. India filmmaker Shekhar Kapur and director of Academy Award-winner film Elizabeth, Sudhir Mishra and Saugata Mukherjee, Head of Content, SonyLiv, Sony Pictures Network India, and more.

The opening film of the festival is Cannes Award-winning French film ‘The Taste of Things’ starring Juliette Binoche. The closing film is South Korea’s highest-grossing film of 2024 to date — the horror-mystery-thriller Exhuma (Pamyo) which premiered at the 2024 Berlinale.

The festival advisory board includes names such as Baahubali star and leading film producer, Rana Daggubati, former Head of Cannes Film Market Jerome Paillard, former Co-Director of Sundance Film Festival Nicole Guillemet, the celebrated Indian filmmaker Ajitpal Singh (Fire in the Mountains and Tabbar), Bangladeshi filmmaker and screenwriter Nuhash Humayun (Moshari) and the co-owner of the Blake Friedmann Literary Agency Julian Friedmann.

Mr VS Kundu IAS (Retd) and a former head of the Films Division, India has come aboard as the director of the film festival and industry veteran Bina Paul as the artistic director of CIFF and senior journalist and film critic Namrata Joshi is the curator for the CIFF Market Projects. The festival is being organised by Cinevesture Pvt. Ltd. Nina Lath is the Founder & CEO of the company.