S. K. De
The Rajasthan International Film Festival RIFF 2017 was a memorable event as various filmmakers from all over the world had gathered under one roof to showcase their feature films and short films. It was a dream come true moment for Joy Mukerji's eldest son Monjoy Joy Mukerji who won the coveted Award for the Best Debutant Director at RIFF 2017 for his movie Hai Apna Dil Toh Awara which is a rom-com based on modern day relationships of couples.
Monjoy remembered his late legendary father, India's first chocolate hero Shree Joy Mukerji when his name was announced as the Best Debutant Director . When we spoke to Monjoy, he said , " I am thankful to the entire team of Hai Apna Dil Toh Awara (H.A.D.T.A.) movie , my Producers, Actors,Technical crew,Composers and Lyricists. I dedicate this Award to my late father Shree Joy Mukerji . I am extremely grateful to my Producers Deepakk. R. Gupta and Neha. D. Gupta.A special thanks to my D.O.P Anil Singh, composers Ajay Singha and Subash Pradhan(Title Track) and Ranjhu Vergese for doing a wonderful job in choreographing the songs. Pervez Quadir 's Sufi track really stands out well in the film. Mohit Pathak and Pinky Poonawala did a wonderful job with the lyrics of Meheram Mere (Mohit Pathak) and the Title Track Hai Apna Dil Toh Awara (Pinky Poonawala). "
He was felicitated with this prestigious award for the Best Debutant Director recently at the RIFF Awards Night 2017. Leena Yadav won the Award for the Best Director for Parched movie which also won the Best Picture Award. Monjoy has revived the era of musical romantic movies which were an integral part of Joy Mukerji's movies as he had shot a major part of his film in the picturesque locations of Kashmir. Monjoy is now penning down the script for his next feature film as well as a web series.