MUMBAI: With an aim to promote the ensuing annual International Film Festival of India to be held at the end of this month in Goa, the Entertainment Society of Goa (ESG) has launched a contest -‘T20 of Indian Cinema‘ to rate the top 20 among the 40,000 odd films that have been made in the country since the beginning of cinema in India 96 years ago.

The contest that began on 10 November shall end on 29 November is being run on a made-for-the-occasion website www.t20ofindiancinema.com and is open to all.

The first twenty entries that match a master list merged from the choices of 10 prominent directors and an equal number of film critics from different film regions in the country will win for the entrant an all expenses paid trip to Goa. The first twenty entries that match the best film will also fetch a similar award.

Says ESG CEO Manoj Srivastava, "We want to create an awareness about the richness of Indian cinema to today‘s youth who are not even aware about the films made in the seventies and eighties." 

"Next year‘s edition will call for the best 20 male actors, the year after that the best twenty female actors and then during the centennial year we will have a contest to rate the best twenty directors," Srivastava adds.

"A contest such as this will definitely spread awareness about Kannada cinema, especially if one or more of Kannada films are picked among the top twenty best films ever made in India," said Kannada Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC) president and female actor Jaimala.

"It is an opportunity to bring awareness about the greatness of Kannada cinema and culture across the world," she added.

ESG is the nodal agency appointed by the Government of Goa in 2004 in the auspices of the IFFI and its main objective is to frame a policy to help cultivate Goa into a world-class international entertainment nerve center of India and to work towards building global visibility and branding for the IFFI.