IFFI 2023: Rajkumar Hirani to head jury panel for best web series award

Filmmaker Rajkumar Hirani will serve as the head of the five-member jury for the best web series (OTT) award at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI), set to begin in Goa from Monday.

According to a press note, actors Divya Dutta, Prosenjit Chatterjee, and filmmakers Krishna DK and Utpal Borpujari are part of the jury panel for the inaugural category.

This year, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting announced the addition of the new award category -- best web series (OTT) award -- to the 54th edition of the film extravaganza that will be presented to a show for its ''artistic merit, storytelling excellence, technical prowess and overall impact''.

A total of 32 entries across 10 languages from 15 OTT platforms have been selected for the inaugural best web series award. The winning series will receive a certificate and a cash prize of Rs 10 lakh.

British film ''Catching Dust'' will open IFFI on Monday and American film ''The Featherweight'' will close the gala on November 28.

Actors Aparshakti Khurrana and Karishma Tanna will host the opening event at Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Indoor Stadium in Panaji on Monday, which will also feature performances by Shriya Saran and Nushratt Bharucha.

The guest list for the event also includes Vijay Sethupathi, Sara Ali Khan, Pankaj Tripathi, Sunny Deol, Karan Johar, Shantanu Moitra, Shreya Ghoshal and Sukhwinder Singh, among others.