India, Nov. 28 -- Cinema has rare days when it seems to gather its entire history, its present voice, and its future ambition into a single frame.

At IFFI 2025, 27 November became that frame, where filmmakers, audiences, archivists, students, families and global storytellers crossed paths in a way that felt almost like a summit of cinematic purpose.

A simple question seemed to rise on its own: what shape does cinema take when so many eras and visions converge at one moment? The festival moved through tributes, restorations, discoveries and milestones with a depth that invited everyone present to see cinema as lived memory, cultural inheritance and an evolving dialogue.

The gala premiere welcomed Rajendra Talak and his ensemble: Priyank...