After winning top honours at prestigious events such as the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) and the Pune International Film Festival, the Jitendra Joshi-starrer drama Godavari (2022) has been selected among the top 10 Indian films of 2021 for the FIPRESCI-India Grand Prix. FIPRESCI is the French acronym for the International Federation of Film Critics.
Directed by Nikhil Mahajan. the film also stars Vikram Gokhale, Neena Kulkarni and Priyadarshan Jadhav.
Mahajan, overjoyed with this selection, said, "To be included in the India list of top 10 feature films from 2021 is humbling. We made the film in the middle of a raging pandemic with few resources and now it is travelling the world... it is surreal! We also have the incredible people at Jio Studios as our partners to bring Godavari in cinema halls very soon! I can't wait for audiences at home to have a taste of our holy river!"
Godavari won laurels at IFFI 2021 with Joshi winning the Silver Peacock for Best Actor and the movie sharing a Special Jury award with the Brazilian film The First Fallen (2021).
It won awards for Best Director and Best Cinematographer at the Pune International Film Festival 2022 as well as a Special Jury prize for its music. In March, the film was selected to open the upcoming New York Indian Film Festival.
Produced by Blue Drop Films and Jitendra Joshi Pictures and presented by Jio Studios. Godavari is the story of Nishikant (Joshi) who has strayed away from his family and returns home to mend relationships that had never really broken. What follows are complex questions about his life, his family, and his religion, and a realization that the river he despised so much might hold the answers to all his questions.