National Award-winning filmmaker and Emmy-nominated director Ram Madhvani, and acclaimed Indian film producer Mahaveer Jain came together at the 56th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa for an engaging conversation on “The Power and Impact of Our Stories on Nation Building”. Founded in 1952, IFFI remains the only South Asian film festival accredited by the International Federation of Film Producers’ Associations (FIAPF) in the Competitive Feature Films category. Each year, it continues to curate and celebrate landmark cinema from across the globe.
The insightful session featuring Mahaveer Jain and Ram Madhvani explored storytelling, the values that guide creators, and the cultural influences shaping their work, while also highlighting filmmakers’ responsibility and cinema’s emotional impact.
Talking about the cultural values that India holds, cinematic philosopher Ram Madhvani shared, “India has always been a civilisation shaped by stories. Whether it is the Ramayana or the Mahabharata, these epics were more than tales; they were moral compasses, emotional guides, and reflections of who we are. As creators today, we inherit that legacy. Our responsibility is to craft stories that not only entertain but also carry forward the values, questions, and memories that define us. I believe storytelling is a sacred act, one that allows us to understand ourselves better and to show the world who India truly is.’’
Further speaking about India’s cultural and spiritual legacy, renowned producer Mahaveer Jain emphasized the importance of sharing the country’s ancient wisdom with global audiences through cinema and entertainment. He noted “We have solutions for everything in the ancient wisdom that our own sages have given us,” noted Mahaveer Jain. “If India can gift something to the entire world, it is this - our ancient wisdom. This wisdom is what we should be propagating through the entertainment medium, which is also what I request you all to do,” he observed.
Speaking about his filmmaking approach and the emotion he strives to evoke in audiences, visionary director Ram Madhvani shared,“I am interested in tragedy.We have forgotten the tragic hero. We have the romantic, action and comedy heroes, but the tragic hero or heroine - Meena Kumari, Dilip Kumar, even Shah Rukh Khan - are people who actually affected us. Tragedy is a thing I feel that we are missing. In everything that I do, the one nerve that I want to press, to cleanse you is to make you cry. With everything that you are going through in your life - if I can use the work that I am putting out there to try and see how you can achieve catharsis, that is what I would like to do.”